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Corbyn's revenge reshuffle is over and it didn't go as planned

Jan 6, 2016, 14:56 IST

REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

After 36 hours of negotiations, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn finally revealed his new shadow cabinet on Tuesday night and it's not what we expected.

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Despite reports that Corbyn was planning to get rid of shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle in a so-called revenge reshuffle, both of them remain in the shadow cabinet.

Michael Dugher, the shadow culture secretary, and shadow Europe minister Pat McFadden, who both warned Corbyn not to fire his shadow ministers for political reasons, were both fired for political reasons.

Here's everything you need to know.

Hilary Benn

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This is the big one. Up until Tuesday morning, everyone thought Benn was on his way out and with good reason; Business Insider understands that Corbyn's own media team had briefed journalists that Benn was going. Benn had opposed Corbyn on the vote to extend RAF operations against ISIS into Syria which was the biggest foreign policy event of this parliament so far.

But, as Business Insider explained, things didn't go to plan for Corbyn. Some Labour MPs were openly critical of the prospect of Corbyn getting rid of Benn and it emerged that up to eight members of the shadow cabinet would have resigned had Benn gone.

Corbyn's team briefed the media that Benn had kept his job after agreeing not to disagree with Corbyn in public.

Maria Eagle

Like Benn, Eagle had also been widely tipped to lose her job in the reshuffle and sure enough, she was moved from shadow defence secretary to shadow culture secretary. This is a massive demotion for Eagle, but does mean that she remains in the shadow cabinet.

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The main reason that Corbyn wanted to move Eagle from defence is that she disagrees with him on one of the fundamental issue of nuclear weapons. Corbyn is a long time anti-nuclear activist who wants Britain to get rid of its nuclear capability while Eagle is a strong supporter of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons programme.

Emily Thornberry

Thornberry had been brought into the shadow cabinet to become defence secretary in place of Eagle. Like Corbyn she is an opponent of nuclear weapons but is also a divisive figure within the party.

Thornberry is best known for being forced to resign as shadow attorney general under former Labour leader Ed Miliband after she tweeted a picture of a white van and the St George's flag that was widely interpreted as snobbery.

Thornberry is an ally of Corbyn, but many within the Labour party feel she just isn't a suitable person to be running Labour's defence policy. She has accepted thousands of pounds in donations from a British law firm that takes legal action against the British armed forces. Labour sources have told Business Insider they are horrified by Thornberry's appointment.

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Michael Dugher

Dugher, who has been openly critical of Corbyn and his policies was kicked out the cabinet altogether. Unfortunately for Corbyn, Dugher is very popular among Labour MPs and his dismissal was met with an outpouring of dismay. Removing Dugher means that there is one less critical voice inside the shadow cabinet, but now Dugher is no longer bound by "collective responsibility" he could become a much more dangerous critic of Corbyn from the backbenches.

Dugher responded to his sacking by adding "Sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for too much straight talking" to his Twitter bio.

Pat McFadden and Pat Glass

Pat Glass has replaced McFadden as shadow Europe minister. We know quite a lot about McFadden's dismissal because he issued a statement explaining that he was sacked because of a question he asked in Parliament about the Paris terror attacks.

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McFadden asked Prime Minister David Cameron whether he rejected "the view that sees terrorist acts as always being a response or a reaction to what we in the West do?" This was a pointed question that was aimed the Stop the War organisation who had suggested the West bore some responsibility for the terrorist attacks in Paris. Corbyn is a long time supporter of Stop the War.

McFadden's dismissal has been met with very strong criticism from some people in the Labour party. Labour MP Chris Leslie said he was concerned that McFadden had been sacked because of "his views on terrorism & security" and Labour MP Ian Austin said that Mcfadden had been sacked for "criticising ISIS."

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