Ivan Lewis 'to be replaced as shadow culture secretary'

Ivan Lewis is reportedly to be replaced as shadow culture secretary, only a week after he gave a controversial speech calling for rogue journalists to be "struck off".

According to The Guardian, the MP for Bury South is to be moved on to an international development role after a year as Labour's culture spearhead.

It is not known who will replace Lewis, but senior Labour sources have denied that Gloria De Piero, the former GMTV presenter who won a Labour seat in Ashfield at the last general election, will be fast-tracked to the post.

Instead, it is thought that the position will go to a more senior and established member of the shadow cabinet, particularly in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

The Labour hierarchy had distanced itself from Lewis after his speech at the Labour Party Conference last week, in which he called for the media industry to "consider whether people guilty of gross malpractice should be struck off". The suggestion was widely interpreted as a call for a licensing scheme for journalists.

In the speech, Lewis also proposed a new "system of independent regulation" for journalists after the phone hacking scandal, including "proper like-for-like redress which means mistakes and falsehoods on the front page receive apologies and retraction on the front page".