Shadow minister warns Jeremy Corbyn of the Dark Side over 'revenge reshuffle'

A Labour shadow minister has used space saga Star Wars to urged Jeremy Corbyn to avoid a so-called "revenge reshuffle" of his top team at the start of 2016. Michael Dugher likened the left-wing leader to a Jedi Knight and warned a mix-up of his shadow cabinet would be against the fictional order's beliefs.

"The idea that Jeremy Corbyn is a person motivated by 'revenge' is something that I don't recognise for a single second," the shadow culture secretary said. "Revenge is not very Jedi. It's also not very new politics."

Dugher also wrote in The New Statesman that Labour should focus its energies on attacking the "lousy" Conservative government. "We also know we all face a big test in the May elections: defending the Welsh government, showing Labour can turn things around in Scotland with Jeremy's anti-austerity message, winning in London and gaining council seats in England," he added.

The comments came after various media reports claimed shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn, shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle and chief Labour whip Rosie Winterton could be axed from the party's top team at Westminster as Corbyn allegedly plans to promote his allies.

Read more: Labour MPs love referencing Star Wars in the House of Commons

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell failed to smother the speculation when he refused to back Benn's position on 29 December. "The future Labour administration will be determined by the leader of the Labour Party," the close Corbyn ally told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

But removing Benn, who won plaudits for his pro-war speech over UK air strikes on Syria, could cause instability in the already fractious parliamentary party. Labour whip Grahame Morris, however, seemed to endorse a call to rid the shadow cabinet of dissenters.

The Easington MP shared an article headlined "This is what Jeremy Corbyn should do in 2016 – starting with a reshuffle that gets rid of mutineers" on social media site Twitter.