Jeremy Corbyn has moved to heal Labour divisions by appointing more former Owen Smith backers to key posts in his new team in Parliament.
Former Shadow Attorney General Karl Turner, former shadow schools minister Nic Dakin, former Defra shadow minister Nick Smith and Ogmore MP Chris Elmore were all appointed to the Opposition Whips’ office.
Allies said the move was a strong signal that Corbyn wants to unite the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), many of whom were upset at the sacking of Opposition Chief Whip Rosie Winterton last week.
But eight days after Corbyn started his reshuffle – which followed by his second landslide leadership victory - HuffPost has discovered that 31 vacant shadow posts remain unfilled (see below).
Eight shadow ministerial jobs, and 23 Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) posts are still vacant following this summer’s mass resignations by MPs who felt their leader was not upto the job.
One of the key reasons so few PPSs - ministerial aides - have been appointed is that they are normally given to new MPs and many of the party’s 2015 intake have already been given more senior posts.
The Shadow Defence team still has two unfilled posts, as well as no PPS to new Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams lacks both a PPS and two shadow ministers from her team, although Alex Cunningham was on Thursday made the new shadow pensions minister.
Shadow Treasury, Home Office, Scotland Office and Commons leader teams are all missing a shadow minister from their team. Dave Anderson is having to act as both Shadow Northern Ireland and Shadow Scottish Secretary.
And Jeremy Corbyn himself has still not replaced Steve Rotheram, who is now Labour’s candidate for Metro Mayor in Merseyside, in the crucial post of PPS to the Leader of the Opposition.
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon have also all been unable to find PPSs so far.
Supporters of the leader point out that Labour does not have to fill all the 124 shadow Government posts that the party had prior to the summer ‘coup’ attempt against Corbyn.
Some posts may remain unfilled, while new roles have been created such as Dawn Butler’s Shadow Minister for Diverse Communities.
Corbyn has underlined how his new team has many more women and minority ethnic MPs than ever before.
Some 39 of the 73 frontbench appointments (54%) made since October 6 have gone to women MPs. Twelve of the 72 have also been MPs from the black and minority ethnic community.
Corbyn’s team upset many in MPs last week with the manner of Winterton’s sacking, as she was fired at a meeting which she had assumed was being held to discuss progress on the idea of Shadow Cabinet elections.
Fellow whips Conor McGinn and Holly Lynch quit soon after and many MPs cheered Winterton’s name at the weekly meeting of the PLP on Monday.
With the removal of Jonathan Ashworth from the ruling NEC also confirmed this week, some backbenchers felt that Corbyn’s offer of an ‘olive branch’ was beginning to ring hollow.
But the appointment of former Owen Smith backers to the Whips’ office was seen as a signal that Corbyn and new Opposition Chief Whip Nick Brown wanted to reach out to all parts of the party.
Many MPs want to focus on the battle against the Tories, ahead of a possible general election next spring.
Of the 12 members of the Opposition Whips’ office, 9 of them backed Owen Smith, while Deputy Chief Whip Alan Campbell and pairing whip Mark Tami opted to remain neutral given their roles in the party.
As well as Nick Smith, Elmore, Turner and Dakin, fellow whips Jessica Morden, Judith Cummins, Jeff Smith, Vicky Foxcroft and Thangam Debbonaire all nominated Corbyn’s challenger. Nick Brown didn’t declare for either Corbyn or Smith.
Corbyn moved on Thursday to heal divisions with the appointment of Winterton as his new ‘envoy’ to fellow socialist parties across the globe.
One Shadow Cabinet minister told HuffPost UK: “Imagine if they’d had the wit to announce that the same day they sacked her? It would have allowed her some dignity and them to prove they wanted to unite the party.”
Turner was scathing about Corbyn and his supporters this summer, tweeting that the leader was ‘irresponsible’ to keep suggesting Labour was on level pegging with the Tories before the summer resignations.
Dakin had also written of his ‘despair’ at the Brexit vote and that Corbyn had talked about triggering Article 50 to quit the EU the day after the referendum.
Dakin, one of the MPs to back Angela Eagle before switching to Owen Smith, had been highly critical of the sacking of Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn.
Here is the full list of the Shadow frontbench team, including vacancies:
Leader
Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP
PPS – VACANT
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Clive Lewis MP
Bill Esterson MP
Jack Dromey MP
Chi Onwurah MP
Alan Whitehead MP
Gill Furniss MP*
PPS – VACANT
Cabinet Office
Ian Lavery MP
Andrew Gwynne MP
Cat Smith MP
VACANT
PPS - VACANT
Communities and Local Government
Grahame Morris MP (on leave)
Teresa Pearce MP (acting Shadow Secretary of State)
Jim McMahon MP
Gareth Thomas MP
Kate Hollern MP
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP
Ruth Cadbury MP
PPS – VACANT
John Healey MP (Shadow Housing Secretary)
PPS – Chris Matheson MP
Culture, Media and Sport
Tom Watson MP
Kevin Brennan MP
Louise Haigh MP
Rosena Allin-Khan
PPS – VACANT
Defence
Nia Griffith MP
Fabian Hamilton MP (Also FCO)
Wayne David MP
VACANT
VACANT
PPS - VACANT
Exiting the EU
Sir Keir Starmer MP
Jenny Chapman MP
Paul Blomfield MP
Matthew Pennycook MP
PPS - VACANT
International Trade
Barry Gardiner MP
Department for Education
Angela Rayner MP
Gordon Marsden MP
Emma Lewell-Buck MP
Tulip Siddiq MP
Mike Kane MP
PPS - VACANT
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Rachel Maskell MP
Sue Hayman MP
Mary Glindon MP
PPS Vacant
International Development
Kate Osamor MP
Imran Hussain
VACANT
PPS - VACANT
Work & Pensions
Debbie Abrahams MP
Margaret Greenwood MP
Alex Cunningham MP (Pensions)
VACANT
VACANT
PPS – VACANT
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Emily Thornberry MP
Catherine West MP
Fabian Hamilton MP (Also Defence)
Liz McInnes MP
Khalid Mahmood MP*
PPS – VACANT
Health
Jonathan Ashworth MP
Barbara Keeley MP
Sharon Hodgson MP
Justin Madders MP
Julie Cooper MP
PPS - VACANT
Home Office
Diane Abbott MP
Carolyn Harris MP
Rupa Huq MP
Lyn Brown MP
VACANT
PPS - VACANT
Justice
Richard Burgon MP
Yasmin Qureshi MP
Christina Rees MP
PPS - VACANT
Law Officers
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti
Nick Thomas-Symonds MP
PPS - VACANT
Leader of the House of Commons
Valerie Vaz MP
VACANT
PPS – VACANT
Northern Ireland
Dave Anderson MP (Also Scotland)
Stephen Pound MP
PPS – VACANT
Scotland
Dave Anderson MP (Also Northern Ireland)
VACANT
PPS – VACANT
Transport
Andy McDonald
Daniel Zeichner MP
Pat Glass MP
Richard Burden MP
PPS - VACANT
Treasury
John McDonnell MP
Rebecca Long Bailey MP
Jonathan Reynolds MP
Peter Dowd MP
PPS – VACANT
Wales
Jo Stevens MP
Gerald Jones MP
PPS – VACANT
Women and Equalities
Sarah Champion MP
Paula Sheriff MP
PPS - VACANT
Lord President of the Council and National Elections and Campaigns Co-ordinator
Jon Trickett MP
Shadow Minister for Diverse Communities
Dawn Butler MP
Chief Whip
Rt Hon Nick Brown MP
Whips
Rt Hon Alan Campbell MP (Deputy)
Mark Tami MP (Pairing Whip)
Jessica Morden MP
Judith Cummins MP
Jeff Smith MP
Vicky Foxcroft MP
Thangam Debbonaire MP
Nick Smith MP
Chris Elmore MP
Karl Turner MP
Nic Dakin MP