Jeremy Corbyn has angrily hit out at criticism of changes to his Commons office, saying he is “fed up” of briefing against his plans to prepare for an election.
The Labour leader expressed his irritation during this week’s shadow cabinet meeting after party chair Ian Lavery raised concerns about the reorganisation of staff and claims that they would not get union representation.
Corbyn’s controversial chief of staff Karie Murphy was last week moved from his office in parliament to a new role at the party’s HQ, and other staff were told their roles would be reviewed.
Murphy, who had been accused of taking part in the botched plot to axe deputy leader Tom Watson’s role, was shifted after policy chief Andrew Fisher quit in protest at the way the leader’s office had conducted itself in recent months.
Party sources told HuffPost UK that Corbyn introduced his new Director of the Leader’s Office, Helen Reardon Bond, at the shadow cabinet meeting on Monday.
His shadow team gave Reardon Bond a warm welcome, but Lavery then said that leader’s office staff were unhappy at the planned reorganisation.
Lavery added the lack of union representation was a big mistake and self-defeating.
Corbyn swiftly interjected that he was “fed up” at briefing against staff and talked at length about Reardon Bond’s experience as a Whitehall equalities chief.
He also said claims about a lack of union representation were untrue and that the moves were all about getting the party ready for a general election and for government. The rest of the shadow cabinet then banged the table in agreement with Corbyn.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott also warmly welcomed Reardon Bond, who has led the drive for gender pay gap transparency in government and has years of experience on equalities policy, to her post.
“Jeremy almost never loses his temper, but he was furious,” one source said.
“This is a big deal because it shows that Jeremy has ownership of these decisions. He is going to defend his new office arrangements and is furious about the wild briefing against it.”
Another source present said that Lavery was wrong to assume that Murphy’s removal had anything to do with her opposition to a pro-Remain stance on Brexit. “It isn’t about Brexit, it was about the way the office was managed,” they said.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has also hit out at suggestions that he has been behind a ‘takeover’ of Corbyn’s office, after it emerged his adviser Lord Kerslake had phoned Murphy to break the news to her of her move.
Website Skwawkbox has been running repeated stories attacking McDonnell. During the shadow cabinet meeting, he joked that “it would be great if somebody could tell Skwawkbox” that he was “really helpful”.
At a rally on Monday, McDonnell also attacked “stories that I’m plotting against Jeremy Corbyn”, adding “they will never divide us”.
More than 30 members of Corbyn’s office have been told they will be part of a restructuring of the team and invited to attend informal meetings about their roles.
Some members of the team have complained about a lack of prior consultation but allies of Corbyn insist there’s no intention to exclude union reps.
Party insiders insist that Murphy, who has kept her chief of staff title, will have a key role in the election and in providing direction at the party’s HQ.