Ticket to ride – Oldham MP gets opposition cabinet transport role

OLDHAM West and Royton MP Jim McMahon has been appointed to Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet as shadow secretary of state for transport.

The former Oldham Council leader, elected to Westminster in December 2015, said: “I am  delighted and humbled to join the shadow cabinet and thankful to Keir for the opportunity.

“This is an exciting time to serve our movement. I cannot wait to get started with Labour’s transport team and build upon the work of my predecessor Andy McDonald.”

Jim McMahon, right, with Sir Keir Starmer when he visited Oldham in January

Mr McMahon, 39, had previously been Shadow Minister for Local Government. He and Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams accompanied Jeremy Corbyn’s successor on a tour of Oldham back in January.

Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner is Starmer’s deputy leader while Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, is the new shadow work and pensions secretary.