There’s a new parlour game at Westminster as MPs and civil servants assess this first phase. It’s called Growers and Shrinkers. A senior Tory says: “Before we got into power none of us knew who would be any good at government. There are ministers who have grown into the job and others who have shrunk in office.”
She reckons that Cameron has grown in office while Clegg has shrunk. Osborne is a grower and Cable is a shrinker.
But her article is beset by one problem - those who she doesn't mention at all.
Eric Pickles has gripped his department in a way no other Cabinet Minister has, and achieved huge amounts in the first 100 days. Theresa May has also shown great initiative at the Home Office and is supported by a first class team of ministers. Surely she and Eric deserve recognition in Rachel's article.
UPDATE 11.34: That'll teach me to click on page 2 of the article, where Gove and May are indeed mentioned. Apologies!
Pay wall = I don't care
ReplyDeletePickles is an inspiration to the rest of the Government, he just shut up and got on with it and is a huge achiever, same with May.
ReplyDeleteCombined growing-and-shrinking prize surely has to go to poor Anne Milton.
ReplyDeleteAlice in Wonderland stuff!
It's the loopies like Huhne and Hughes who are not doing very well. Hardly surprising, given the shallowness of their intellects. There's a hell of a difference between politics and administration. Sadly, many of the Lib Dems seem unaware of this - and that includes Clegg.
ReplyDeleteHi Iain, I haven't checked out the online version, but in the printed version she does make mention of Michael Gove and Theresa May, but is equivocal.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Eric Pickles has shone brightly, and he's certainly a grower!
Squiffy.
Iain, Does this mean that - despite your previous post - that you have indeed opened your 'moth eaten wallet' and paid for access to The Times, you news junkie?
ReplyDeleteA Conservative-supporting paper finds Tories have grown in office and Lib Dems have shrunk. Wow! Such objective insight.
ReplyDeleteHughes is not in govt. And Huhne has even agreed to build nuclear power stations.
ReplyDeleteGood to have you behind the pay wall, tho' frankly, I'd boycott it if I were you (and I am me, so I do)
ReplyDeleteotoh, now that you've dragged it out - is it a coincidence that of those you mention, growers are tory and shrinkers are lib-dem?
of course, it may be that this is just the obvious evidence of lib-dem shrinkage... and if chris huhne's volte face on nuclear power is anything to go by, they'll all be tories soon anyway.
"Eric Pickles has gripped his department in a way no other Cabinet Minister has..."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like he clenched his rear cheeks and grunted!
The man who banned civil servants from using the word "region"? http://darlingtoncouncillor.blogspot.com/2010/07/r-word.html
ReplyDeleteSo far his performance has been all gimmicks and press stunts. It might have been simpler to let the shadowy Tax Payers Alliance run the department and be done with it!
Cameron growing in office is a joke.
ReplyDelete