Miliband unveils shocks in shadow cabinet picks

ALAN JOHNSON was appointed to the key role of shadow chancellor in Ed Miliband’s first shadow cabinet yesterday.

The former British home secretary will spearhead Labour’s assault on Chancellor George Osborne’s spending cuts after Miliband drew back from appointing either Ed Balls or his wife Yvette Cooper.

Both had been widely tipped as possible candidates, with Balls having made no secret of his desire to take on the economic portfolio.