Putney MP Given Northern Ireland Role by Keir Starmer


Fleur Anderson made Shadow Minister in recent reshuffle


Ms Anderson speaking on Northern Ireland in the House of Commons on 6 September

September 6, 2023

Fleur Anderson, the MP for Putney, has been promoted to Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland in this week’s reshuffle by Labour leader Keir Starmer MP.

She will serve alongside Hilary Benn MP, newly appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who has replaced Peter Kyle. She had previously been Shadow Paymaster General, which like her current job, is not considered to be a position in the Shadow Cabinet.

The Putney MP, elected in 2019, hit the ground running on her first day in her new role on 6 September, challenging the Secretary of State on funding for early years education in Northern Ireland.

The refusal of the Democratic Unionists to re-enter the power sharing agreement and take up their seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont has raised the possibility of direct rule from Westminster being imposed at some point in the future. New elections are scheduled to be held at the beginning of next year but, if they fail to break the impasse, then any future Labour government could inherit a difficult situation to manage.

Ms Anderson said, "I am deeply honoured to have been appointed Shadow Minister for Norther Ireland by Keir Starmer MP, working alongside Hilary Benn to continue the excellent work done by our predecessors Tonia Antoniazzi MP and Peter Kyle MP in working with all parties and communities in Northern Ireland."


Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.