Besides the surprise of seeing the considerable lead Yvette Cooper had with 232 votes in a Shadow Cabinet ballot – what would have happened if she had entered the Labour leadership contest instead of her husband? – I was not expecting such strong support for twin sisters Maria and Angela Eagle, neither of whom are household names.

Maria Eagle, 49, (left) is the new Shadow Transport Secretary and her previous roles include Equalities Minister as well as  Minister for Children. She played chess for England and is a keen cricketer. She is the daughter of a printworker and went to Oxford. Voting records show she voted against laws to stop climate change, but will her brief not include concerns about this, and getting traffic off the road to reduce carbon emissions?

Angela Eagle, (right) a former union official, made news headlines two years ago when she became the first female MP to tie the knot in a civil partnership. She has been appointed Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She was also educated at Oxford and her previous middle-ranking roles included social security minister  and pensions minister. She is a chess player too and was joint winner of the British Girls’ Under-18 championship. They are currently the only pair of sisters in the Commons.

There was a commendable record number of eight women elected to Labour’s new Shadow Cabinet, with another three women already in Cabinet posts. The present coalition Cabinet has only four women!

The full Shadow Cabinet is:

Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband MP

Deputy Leader and Shadow International Development Harriet Harman MP
Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson MP
Shadow Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities Yvette Cooper MP
Shadow Secretary Home Ed Balls MP
Chief Whip Rosie Winterton MP
Shadow Education and Election Coordinator Andy Burnham MP
Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan MP
Shadow Work and Pensions Douglas Alexander MP
Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills John Denham MP
Shadow Health John Healey MP
Shadow Communities and Local Government Caroline Flint MP
Shadow Defence Jim Murphy
Shadow Energy and Climate Change Meg Hillier MP
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
Shadow Transport Maria Eagle MP
Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Mary Creagh MP
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle MP
Shadow Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward MP
Shadow Scotland Ann McKechin MP
Shadow Wales Peter Hain MP
Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Ivan Lewis MP
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Shadow Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell MP
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Liam Byrne MP
Lords Chief Whip Lord Bassam of Brighton
Shadow Attorney-General Baroness Scotland