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Ed Miliband hails end to decades-long tradition of elections as ‘excellent result for the party’ Labour MPs have backed Ed Miliband’s plans to abolish elections to the shadow cabinet, leaving the party leader free to appoint his own senior team. The reform, ending a decades-long Labour tradition under which shadow cabinet members are elected by fellow Labour MPs, was approved by 196 of 257 MPs eligible to vote. “This is an excellent result for the party,” Miliband said after the vote, which must still be approved by Labour’s national executive committee later this month and ratified at Labour’s annual conference in the autumn. “We have an important job to do in holding the government to account and preparing for the next election,” he said. “To do that job properly we need to spend our time talking to the public and not ourselves.” The rule will apply only while the party is in opposition, not in government. A senior Labour source told the Press Association that the vote was “an important step forward” for Labour. “It is important that we no longer have the distraction of internal elections whilst we have a job to do of holding the government to account and preparing ourselves for the next election,” the source said. “It is important that we are talking to the public and not ourselves.” Currently, although membership of the shadow cabinet is determined by a ballot of Labour MPs, the leader is able to allocate portfolios. If approved, Miliband will be free to shape his shadow cabinet as he chooses. However, a source close to Labour sought to play down expectations of an immediate reshuffle. Aides had acknowledged ahead of the vote that there would be a “significant” opposition. But few opposing voices were said to have been raised when the parliamentary Labour party met on Monday to discuss the change, despite the proposal being rejected by a margin of two to one in a vote last year. Labour Barry Neild guardian.co.uk