Friday, September 26, 2008

Telegraph Column: Cameron's Reshuffle Dilemmas


My Telegraph column today looks at how David Cameron may reshuffle his Shadow Cabinet once Gordon Brown has completed his own reshuffle. The main guesses predictions are...

  • Edward Garnier to become Shadow Attorney General
  • Ed Vaizey to replace Peter Ainsworth at Environment
  • Theresa Villiers to move from Transport
  • Greg Clark to replace David Willetts at Innovation, Universities & Skills
  • Maria Miller & Justine Greening to possible decline promotion
  • Sir Malcolm Rifkind to head up new Shadow Department of the Nations team
  • James Arbuthnot to be Defence Secretary in a Conservative Government

Enough to get your teeth into? Read the full column HERE.

27 comments:

  1. Ed/ward who ? Who are these nonentities ?

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  2. Good article - glad to see that you haven't 'overlooked' Caroline Spelman which would be tempting to do in times of trouble...

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  3. "Department of the Nations team"

    Sounds like the sort of job Malcolm will need to wear a cape and pants over his trousers to do. Is it a new superhero group?

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  4. Sir Malcolm Rifkind is no asset to the Conservative Party however much he might like to think he is. I hope Cameron won't allow himself to be bullied into giving him a Cabinet post when there many more deserving talents at his disposal.

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  5. o/t: but it seems that your fears about EU regulation of blogging were rather premature.

    http://euobserver.com/9/26813/?rk=1

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  6. James Arbuthnot won't set the world alight (in all senses), but would be a steady, sane and highly experienced pair of hands.

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  7. James Arbuthnot - voted against parliamentary transparency, for the Iraq War, against equal rights for gays. Voting attendance is below average for MPs. A great choice as Defence Shadow. Mind you, Patrick Mercer was even braver over transparency, he didn't vote at all.

    Edward Garnier, a QC, voted for parliamentary transparency.

    Ainsworth and de Villiers have been mostly conspicuous by not being conspicuous so goodbye to them. Willets is profoundly irritating so goodbye to him too.

    Maria Miller is a newcomer to Parliament but would make a good No.2 at Education, Skills but she also avoided the vote on transparency. Greg Clark is also a newcomer and a fence-sitter on transparency. I see no background in the area of the department suggested by Iain.

    I am not greatly impressed by MPs who are not responsive to public concerns i.e MPs "allowances". You can add Ed Vaizey to that list as well.

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  8. Riffy... Oh Dear.

    Why not go the whole hog and have Nutter Redwood as shadow chancellor.

    ""Department of the Nations team"".

    You lot just get dafter as each day passes. Novices indeed, the Tory party is now like a student union in rag week.

    Your conference will be like a rag week, silly stunts, activists dressed in silly costumes, over the top smiley ( but misplaced ) confidence. Rah rah rah we're going to smash the oiks....oh dear

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  9. Bye Bye Caroline Spelman.

    Nanny Gate finding are on the horizon

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  10. What would happen to Liam Fox?

    I rather like him.

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  11. Mr Draper has been busy this morning, hasn't he?

    Anonymous 9.54, I particularly enjoyed your comments on the Dept of the Nations. This is not a Tory idea, it is apparently going to be announced by the Dour One. So the Tories will need to shadow it.

    Feeling an idiot now?

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  12. This reshuffle will be the final nail in the coffin for this pathetic, corrupt Labour so-called "government". People such as Edward Garnier and Ed Vaizey make the laughable puppets who pose as a Cabinet look like political pygmies.

    The public are desperate to see people like Theresa Villiers and Greg Clark in high office. These are people treated with genuine respect and affection by the British public.

    As soon the public see a figure such as James Arbuthnot as shadow defence minister, their desperation for a Tory Government will be so insatiable they will take to the streets to demand the death of New so-called "Labour".

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  13. Iain, in all this talk of bringing back the old timers, have you considered Howard for Shadow Attorney Gen.?

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  14. Iain,

    Totally wrong, did you use a random name generator for this?

    Villiers will stay in Transport. Rifkind wont be promoted.

    I think your heart has written this post, not your head.

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  15. Wow, thanks for that stunning insight. You state those two things as a fact. How would you know any more than I do?

    As for your last comment, that is puerile. I like Theresa Villiers and said she would be moved, not sacked. I am not Rifkind's greatest fan, but think he would do a good job in that role.

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  16. Who are these people? Caroline Spelman incidentally is still supposedly looking into the outrageous behaviour of Tories in Manchester Whalley Range in May. Working to still communalist hatred hand in glove with Hizb_ut-Tahrir. Blogs passim.

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  17. PS Is there no way of getting Den Dover, Derek Conway, and that chap Chichester in the kitchen cabinet to keep Caroline company?

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  18. Sir Malcolm Rifkind is a mistake.

    What is needed to save the Union is fresh thinking, not the ideas that failed last time.

    Sir Malcolm Rifkind is a fine MP ( he was once my MP in Edinburgh Pentlands ), but its time for some bold thinking.

    Time for a federal UK, or in 15 years time there will only be a rump left.

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  19. jidwCameron front bench is slowly becoming like the membership of his gents only club.

    Arbuthnot is yet another Eton boy with Royal ties

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  20. At some stage the Tories will need to increase their credibility and stop relying on Labour's implosion.

    Spelman shuld have gone some time ago.
    Ken Clarke should be shadow chancellor.
    David Davies should come back as home secretary.

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  21. Iain,

    I never said Villiers would be 'sacked', and I never suggested you thought it.

    Shall we just wait and see who is right, then we can discuss who was making 'puerile' conjecture, and who was making assertions.

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  22. The Riffer! Great to see Sir Malcolm returning, the first step on the long march to the leadership.

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  23. Kris Pawl is brilyunt. Very klever he is. He shud be in Gordon's blog police. Oh he is? How much you gettin' payed, Kris.
    Gordon is brilyunt. Gary elsby isn't my bruther. Why would you think he are?

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  24. Willetts is deranged, he wants to expand the universities. Hope he does get removed.

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  25. What about a new and more effective Party Chairman? Surely a priority.

    Chris Grayling......

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  26. Interesting to note the antics of negative posters both on this site and also on the DT article.
    Many are totally puerile and can only emanate from one place. Is this the best that Brown's mice/rats can manage?

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  27. Greg Clark is a nice guy, very personable and was supportive of me to my work in CF. When we finished the meeting despite having another engagement to go to he still gave me a mini tour of the HoP. Would be great to seem him do well.

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