Keir Starmer set to sack shadow chancellor after Labour poll slump

Apparently it's her fault Labour's "vision" has not been communicated

Keir Starmer is set to sack the shadow chancellor of the exchequer Anneliese Dodds, the Times are reporting. The Labour leader, who has been in the position for just short of a year, will shake up his front bench after local elections in May, in a bid to arrest the party's continued slump in the polls. The Times report that Dodds is respected, but will be moved on after failing to effectively communicate the party's "vision", which is supposedly a thing that exists. Rachel Reeves is favourite to assume the role, having earned plaudits among the party for calling out Tory cronyism throughout the pandemic. Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips - who both ran for the leadership following Jeremy Corbyn's departure - are also in the running. Nandy is currently the shadow foreign secretary but it is thought that the shadow chancellor role would allow the party to better use her communication skills. Polls don't look good for Labour, with YouGov's latest poll putting Labour on 34 per cent, nine points behind the Tories. The local elections will be the first real electoral test of how much - if any - progress Starmer has made in his first year as leader of the abste- I mean opposition.