Yes, some of it is the green-eyed monster, but look at this way. You’re an ambitious Labour MP. A few months back, you were delighted to accept a job as a frontbencher. Since then, you’ve been slaving away as a junior spokesperson at Defra or DECC, or some other deeply unglamorous collection of ministerial initials. This involves endless meetings with people who know a great deal about the subject you can only spend a few hours a day on. Nor can you make these experts any promises. The policy review is ongoing, you intone.

Whenever you want to say anything, you have to have it signed off twice, first by your boss, who will grab any good media for themselves, and then by some teenagers in Norman Shaw South. Then, if by some miracle you do get to make an announcement that the media pay a modicum of interest in, the brief pleasure of gripping the dispatch box and declaiming the official view of the Labour party turns to ashes when, returning to the tearoom, you read … another article containing a laudatory reference to the activities of the member of parliament for Streatham, a man who doesn’t have to clear his remarks with anyone, is invited to do Question Time and Any Questions on a regular basis, and clearly enjoys the favour of the leader every time they march through the division lobby together.

What’s more, the more widely Umunna ranges, the more toes he is likely to tread on. The Streatham MP wants to put the issues of bankers’ bonuses and taxation at the centre of political debate, and he is being very effective in doing just that. The problem is that, without bearing the burden of collective responsibility, he creates waves where some would like only ripples.

Which is why the smart money is on Umunna being invited to assume the burden of shadow ministerial office sooner rather than later. But where could he exercise his considerable talents in a post which wouldn’t feel like a clipping of his wings?

One intriguing suggestion has him destined for a junior job at the Treasury team, perhaps as a camera-friendly shadow City minister, a post where Ed Balls will be able to keep a paternal eye on his activities, Umunna can demonstrate his aptitude for teamwork, and where he would also be a useful symbol of the close working relationship between the leader and the Balls team. The current shadow City minister, Chris Leslie, is a close Balls ally, but could be promoted elsewhere quite easily, as a former MP with ministerial and local government experience. The City job requires a media profile, is highly political, and needs a spokesperson who can speak for the leadership and is utterly on message. Sounds perfect for Chuka Umunna.

Shining after Sparkle?

All Progress readers will be willing Jonathan Ashworth to a solid victory in the Leicester South by-election. Yet the likely departure of the ironically nicknamed ‘Sparkle’ creates a gap in Ed Miliband’s top team.

After all, until he became Labour’s candidate for Leicester South, Ashworth was Miliband’s head of party relations and his beat included managing the leader’s relations with the unions. This is a topic Miliband will want to manage with care. The unions are clearly interested in the work of the policy review, and the NEC’s powerful joint policy committee has already seen concerns raised about the role of Liberal Democrats on Labour’s policy working groups.

On top of that, the way the Refounding Labour party reform project was briefed as an attempt to dilute the votes of union members caused dark mutterings, though your correspondent is assured that particular spin was unintended. Now that the big three unions control 40 per cent of the vote at conference, it’s essential that they agree to any reforms Miliband wants to launch. With Len McCluskey at the helm of Unite, that’s easier said than done.

Finally, there’s the small matter of the new party general secretary, who is appointed by the NEC, with a crucial role played by the 10 (11 including the treasurer) union representatives. With two union-linked candidates already making quiet appeals for support, ensuring the leader gets the person he wants will be a tricky job.

So who should get Ashworth’s old post? With Joe Irvin and Iain McNicol quietly running for general secretary, one option might be to offer it to either in lieu of the top job. Another option might be to give it to TULO’s Byron Taylor, who has long travailed in the Labour garden with little official reward. A final option might be to give the party relations job to one of Miliband’s trusted inner circle, Anna Yearley perhaps, as part of a wider party and parliamentary politics remit. This would likely work best if a union-friendly general secretary were to be appointed, thus soothing the concerns of the brothers.

Whichever way Miliband goes, he needs to decide who he wants to manage relations with the unions for him, and fast.

Photo: Michael Flynn