Fisking the Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle

This article by Melissa Kite is from today's Sunday Telegraph. My comments are in italics...


David Cameron is preparing a radical shake-up of his shadow cabinet after achieving the Tories' best election result for 15 years.
No he isn't. He will wait until Gordon Brown unveils his new team at the beginning of July.
Buoyed by winning more than 800 council seats, the Conservative leader is ready to appoint a new line-up to fight Gordon Brown, now almost certain to take over from Tony Blair this summer.
Yup, at the beginning of July.
Of the top positions, only George Osborne is expected to remain in his post, as shadow chancellor.
On whose say so?
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, is set for a move to a beefed-up shadow ministry of defence as part of a plan to divide the home affairs brief.
How exactly does one beef up defence? Call it Ministry of War?
Nick Herbert, shadow police reform minister, is tipped to take on policing and immigration.
Seeing as police and immigration will now be in two different departments, this is a fatuous suggestion.
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, is expected to be a casualty of the shake-up following months of internal rancour about alleged disloyalty.
This does have the ring of truth about it. I have lost count of the number of Shadow Cabinet ministers and MPs who have told me the same thing in the last two weeks. He is accused of briefing the press against David Cameron and not performing in his current role.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, is set for demotion after angering many in the party with his continued devotion to commercial public speaking events.
He has scaled these down and after the publication of his Wilberforce book in June he will be devoting his time to politics more or less full time it is to be hoped.
However, he is popular in the country and is tipped for a move to either party chairman or shadow Commons leader, roles which would showcase his speaking talents.
The suggestion of Party Chairman has been touted before but Hague would hate it and refuse it. And if he's asked to be Shadow Leader of the House he might as well ring up HarperCollins and ask them for a new book contract. Not going to happen.
Others tipped for promotion include Chris Grayling, Caroline Spelman, and David Ruffley.
Ah, now we're getting to the nub of it.
Mr Grayling, who rose to prominence by campaigning against Labour corruption, is likely to be moved from transport to a more high profile job.
Wouldn't disagree with that. Indeed, I'd move him back to being Leader of the Commons which gives hm a wide ranging role and allows his to reindulge himself in his role as the Jack Russell terrier with his teeth round the ankles of any cabinet minister who misbehaves.
Mr Ruffley is considered to have shone at pensions and is tipped for a senior Treasury role.
Particularly by Mr Ruffley himself. His colleagues are also terribly impressed - terribly impressed by Mr Ruffley's ability to tell everyone how well he has done. In truth he hasn't done a bad job, but there are a dozen or more junior spokespeople with at least equal, if not better claims. More on these later today.
Miss Spelman, at local government, won admiration for her campaign against Labour's council tax increases and is seen as a rising star.
She needs to develop a much harder edge and media presence. Her Shadow Cabinet place is safe and she should stay in the same job.
Mr Cameron will attempt to bring in more women to the shadow cabinet. Julie Kirkbride, the former shadow culture secretary, is said to be ready for a return to the frontline.
I do hope that is the case. She's superb on the media and much underrated.
Of middle-ranking ministers, Michael Gove, at housing, and Greg Clark, who speaks on charities, are also tipped for elevation.
Both would be superb appointments.
Mr Cameron, his mandate strengthened at the polls, is likely to make the changes within weeks.
Yes, within about nine weeks...
"David is strong enough to do anything he wants to do now," said one insider.
He always has been. 67% of the vote in the leadership contest said it all.
"Whatever changes he wants to make, now is the time to make them."
It most patently isn't. The first week of July is the best time to make the changes, once David Cameron knows who his team will be up against. Anyone with half a political brain would know that. It would be a fundamental mistake to make any wideranging changes before then.

ENDS

So, who is the source of Melissa Kite's article? She probably had more than one, but the main source is clearly a close admirer of David Ruffley! My suspicions are that it is a middle ranking shadow spokesman whose credibility for Melissa Kite is emphasised by his closeness to David Cameron. He ought to hide his traces better in future...