Nine members of the Labour shadow cabinet prior to the election—most of whom are now in the Cabinet—have no prior “non-political” work history.
This list isn’t wholly accurate. Although we’ve not checked the full career history of all those listed, it omits “non-political” jobs some have been employed in, including as a solicitor and a journalist. Prior roles at think tanks, trade unions and charities are also not mentioned.
A list being shared on social media supposedly shows the Labour front bench’s “non-political work history”, and claims several senior politicians who are now Cabinet ministers have “none”. But the list isn’t wholly accurate.
The list was circulated before Labour won the general election, and is based on the make-up of the then-shadow cabinet under Sir Keir Starmer. (Not all of the government versions of these shadow roles are held by the same people now Labour is in government).
The post, which has been circulating on Facebook again recently, claims that the Labour politicians shadowing the roles of home secretary, energy secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Paymaster General, business and trade secretary, work and pensions secretary, Northern Ireland secretary and international development secretary all had no prior “non-political” work history.
Some of the posts also claim Labour’s “Campaign Coordinator” and shadow Leader of the House of Commons had no experience outside politics.
Honesty in public debate matters
You can help us take action – and get our regular free email
We haven’t been able to check the full employment histories of all the politicians included on the list. But among the politicians whose non-political work history is said to be “none”, there appear to be a number of omissions of roles, based on what’s been publicly reported.
Yvette Cooper, who was shadow home secretary at the time the post first began circulating, and is now home secretary, was an economics columnist and leader writer at the Independent newspaper from 1995 to 1997.
Jonathan Reynolds who was the shadow and is now the actual business and trade secretary, worked as a trainee solicitor at a law firm until he became an MP in 2010.
And Ed Miliband, who was shadow energy secretary and now heads up the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, reportedly had a brief role as a political researcher for TV and also taught as a visiting scholar at Harvard University for two semesters in 2002.
Others’ roles at think tanks, trade unions and charities also appear to be missed off the list. (It’s possible these roles might be seen by some as ‘political’ in nature, though it’s not clear what definition the list has applied. It’s worth noting the list does appear to acknowledge deputy leader Angela Rayner’s position as a “union rep” as an example of ‘non-political’ work.)
Hilary Benn, who was the shadow secretary for Northern Ireland (and now holds the role in government), worked in 1980 as a research officer for the Association of Scientific, Technical and Management Staffs trade union. In 1993 he became head of research, and later he was appointed head of policy and communications, at the Manufacturing, Science, Finance trade union.
Liz Kendall, who was the shadow and is now the actual work and pensions secretary, used to be director of the Ambulance Service Network, which represented ambulance trusts in England, and of the Maternity Alliance charity. She also worked for two think tanks—the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the King's Fund.
The then-shadow secretary for International Development, Lisa Nandy, was formerly a researcher for the homelessness charity Centrepoint, and also worked as senior policy adviser at The Children’s Society charity. She is now Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
And Lucy Powell, the former shadow Leader of the House of Commons, who now holds the same role in government, worked for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) foundation before entering Parliament in 2012.
Two of the politicians listed as having no non-political work history—Pat McFadden (formerly holder of the shadow Duchy of Lancaster portfolio and Labour’s national campaign coordinator role, now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) and Jonathan Ashworth (formerly shadow Paymaster General, now no longer an MP)—do appear to have primarily worked within politics.
We couldn’t find reports or public records of them having employment experience outside of politics—we’ve asked both their offices about this and will update this fact check if we hear back. (The Paymaster General is now Nick Thomas–Symonds, who was previously a barrister.)
Misleading claims about politicians can spread quickly online, and generate mistrust in political processes. It’s always worth checking whether information you see online comes from credible sources before sharing it.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because the list isn’t wholly accurate—it omits “non-political” jobs some have been employed in.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.