Former Labour leader Ed Miliband returns to shadow cabinet 

Keir Starmer appointed former Labour leader Ed Miliband to the crucial role of shadow business secretary on Monday as the new party leader continued to purge prominent allies of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Miliband, who was energy and climate change secretary in Gordon Brown’s government, is expected to front the party’s green agenda. He returns to the front bench five years after he stepped down as party leader.

Sir Keir pledged during the election to retain policies from both the 2017 and 2019 manifestos, including the so-called green industrial revolution, which includes a “green new deal” to accelerate Britain’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

Mr Miliband replaces Rebecca Long Bailey, who came second in the leadership race and was seen by many as the Corbyn continuity candidate. She has remained on the front bench as shadow education secretary.

Meanwhile Seumas Milne, one of Mr Corbyn’s closest advisers, has left his role as the party’s director of strategy and communications. Three Labour insiders confirmed to the Financial Times that Mr Milne had departed.

He has been replaced as director of communications by Ben Nunn, a Labour aide who was in charge of media relations for Sir Keir’s leadership campaign.

Mr Milne was one of the most influential voices in the Corbyn project. As well as overseeing often strained relations with print and broadcast media, he wrote articles and speeches on behalf of Mr Corbyn and played a key role in shaping his policy platform.

When Mr Corbyn was under pressure to resign over anti-Semitism in the party, Mr Milne urged the leader to stay in his position to protect the left’s control of the party.

Mr Milne, who was a columnist at The Guardian before joining Mr Corbyn’s team, could not be reached for comment on Monday.

“Seumas made it clear he would be stepping down and that he wouldn't be staying in the long term. There's a short transition period, then he's moving on,” one Labour official said. 

Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff, is also expected to leave her role but insiders said it was unclear if she had quit.

Sir Keir sacked a number of Mr Corbyn’s most loyal supporters from the shadow cabinet on Monday, including shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon and shadow trade secretary Barry Gardiner.

Ian Lavery and Dan Carden have also been sacked as party chairman and shadow international development secretary respectively.

Lord Falconer, a former lord chancellor, has replaced Corbyn loyalist Shami Chakrabarti as shadow attorney-general. Emily Thornberry, who served as shadow foreign secretary in the last front bench team and ran for the leadership, was handed the shadow international trade secretary brief.

John Healey has been appointed shadow defence secretary, while Jonathan Reynolds will serve as shadow work and pensions secretary. 

David Lammy has been appointed shadow justice secretary, while Anneliese Dodds was appointed shadow chancellor on Sunday. Lisa Nandy, who came third in the leadership race, is the new shadow foreign secretary.

One leading Corbynite said that Sir Keir had thrown out many allies of the former Labour leader, but equally he had not brought back into the shadow cabinet prominent New Labour figures from the 1990s.

Known as “Red Ed” for seeking to marry New Labour centrism with a more radical leftwing platform, some Blairite figures in the party blamed Mr Miliband for overseeing a shift to the left under his 2010-15 leadership — attracting large numbers of new, more radical members.