Cameron should fix the shadow cabinet while the sun is shining

greg

Saying that certain people would not make good ministers does not mean they should not be in the Shadow Cabinet. The time to reshuffle to bring in the best ministers is on the first day of Govt. Not before.

Alex

Yes.

Bring back Davis (who has just had his seat being warmed), bring in Ken Clarke, bring in Ed Vaizey (who's good on TV).

Balancing the cabinet with some less 'posh' members is essential to a big majority of voters.

Dave B

Douglas Carswell?

http://www.talkcarswell.com/

Chris

Can it be a coincidence that this piece of coverage appeared at the same time? Looks like a concerted Mandy/Campbell/Dolly type smokescreen to me!
Quote from Ian dales blog - "

The Sunday Mirror has what looks quite a good story about Nick Clegg slagging off his LibDem colleagues - but if you read it you'll see it doesn't quite stack up. Their intrepid reporter, Adam Lee-Potter (son of Lynda) sat in the seat in front of Clegg on a flight to Inverness (strange, though the LibDems didn't approve of internal flights - but I digress). He overheard Clegg talking in very disparaging terms about his colleagues and his plans for a frontbench reshuffle. And this is where the story becomes unstuck. Lee-Potter clearly not only doesn't have a clue about politics, he isn't very good at research. Take this...
He revealed his dislike for Steve Webb, his Environment spokesman, and decided to demote Chris Huhne, his former leadership rival and currently Home Affairs spokesman, before adding he wasn’t “emotionally intelligent” enough for the environment job.

So a move from Environment to Home Affairs is a demotion in Adam Lee-Potter's view, is it? And there's more...
He finally decided on David Laws for Environment, but only because “he’s not enjoying Education”, Goldsworthy for Education and Webb for Justice – currently Chris Huhne’s job.

Er, that would be the same Chris Huhne who is mentioned above as Home Affairs spokesman, would it? And to think, Mr Lee-Potter was actually being paid to write this crap! It comes to something when a journalist undermines his own exclusive.

Does anyone actually still buy the Sunday Mirror?

Hereford

Take Pickles out. I know he has "common appeal", but having seen him on Andrew Marr some time ago and heard him on Any Questions recently, I came to the conclusion that he can't say anything in a coherent way. He is close to John Prescot in his mangling of language.

Right now the messages need to be consistent, clear and, above all, concise. Pickles is a liabiility in this aspect.

TGF UKIP

The Speccie being the Speccie shrinks, as ever, from urging the replacement of its second favourite Tory pol, Osborne.

As poll after poll bears out Boy George just doesn't cut it with the voters. He doesn't look the part, he doesn't sound the part and having got the policy of matching spending and borrowing completely wrong for the past three years, he patently isn't up to the part.

Pity no Speccie journo can bring themselves (or is allowed to?) face up to that in print or on screen.

strapworld

As Gordon Brown has proved with great success. To rehabilitate former Ministers can be good for the party.

Raffkind. Clarke. Redwood. Howard. Davis. are just a few who could, if used in the right positions, inflict real and lasting damage on this rotten administration.

The problem with Cameron, as with Osborne, is that they appear to delight in stabbing their colleagues in their backs!

That cannot be good for morale and cannot be good for team building.

IF the team is as bad as Cameron is reported a suggesting. WHO IS TO BLAME?

Step forward David Cameron. Perhaps he should consider his position.

I have often expressed my really serious concerns about his abilities as a LEADER!

I genuinely feel that he has absolutely no backbone...the next few days will prove or disprove that.

Iain

Get a grip, James - Ken Clarke's return would place a ticking timebomb at the heart of the Shadow Cabinet. He simply WON'T be bound by collective responsibility on any issue relating to Europe. Labour know this and would ruthlessly exploit it.

With the issue of euro membership bubbling up again and moves in the Irish establishment to hold another vote on Lisbon, the timing of your suggestion could hardly be worse.

Go on - tell me I'm wrong.

David

And of course it has to be true because it was in the most useless political gossip page in all of the mainstream press.

Fergus Pickering

Hereford, you are quite wrong in my opiniomn. I heard Pickers on Any Questions and he sounded perfectly coherent to me,. He is not like Prescott in any respect except that he is fat, and not posh. Some more WOMEN is what Cameron wants. What about that Muslim woman. And Nadine Dorries, if that's the right spelling. Julie Kirkbride? I like her. Promotion for her. Oh, and give Chris Woodhead a peerage.

Fairminded Fred

Assuming Osborne is in Cameron's favoured group - who on earth are the other five or six?

David Lindsay

"Ken Clarke's return would place a ticking timebomb at the heart of the Shadow Cabinet. He simply WON'T be bound by collective responsibility on any issue relating to Europe."

Why not, Iain? His views might not be the position of the Daily Telegraph or the Daily Mai. But they are, in fact, the policy of the Conservative Party, insofar as it has one. They always have been, not least under Clarke's patron, the totally non-Eurosceptical Margaret Thatcher.

Anyway, who are these "six or seven". They certainly don't include Osborne, or Cameron himself.

Verity

Ian - No, Clarke won't be bound by collective responsibility. In that sense, he's rogue, and people rather like a rogue, especially if the leader is strong enough to control him. Clarke used to drink whisky while he was reading out the budget. People liked that.

A return of Redwood would be brilliant. That cold glitter in his eye would undo the one-eyed reptile and those fat governmentfront bench inadequates.

The return of those two would pump up the action. David Cameron has no sense of what the voters want. He should stop giving employment to Bullingdon Club alumni. People feel the Opposition is run by a coterie of upper class twits as though they're still on the playing fields of Eton. "Oh, I say, old chap!" just doesn't work as well as, "Do that one more time and I will eat your lunch" with voters.

Actually, David Cameron should be the first to go. He is not up to the job mentally or constitutionally.

Verity

Fergus Pickering - Dear God - A Muslim woman? You are proposing QUOTAS! The British Parliament needs the best, most motivated, most guileful and perceptive people who have fought to win over the votes of the electorate, not bloody QUOTAS for God's sake!

I do agree with you about Eric Pickles, though. He is an absolute, unalloyed asset and should be utilised stat. And yes to a peerage for Chris Woodhead.

Greenzone

John Redwood for shadow chancellor.

Jon

Verity - much I like to read your comments, we all know you dislike Cameron; however, you're sounding like a broken record.

No one Leader of the Opposition is going to be liked by everyone.

John Page

If Cameron's chosen the wrong people for his shadow cabinet, whose fault is that?

liz Brown

Hang on a sec - wasn't this reported only the other day - but with Nick Clegg making the comments? am I missing something? Regardless, one can tell that Mandelbum and Campballs are back

Fergus Pickering

Verity, who said quotas? But it might be a good idea if nearly all the top tories weren't toffs from the same place, don't you know. And I thought the muslim woman, what IS her name, was rather good when I heard her on the radio.

The Dandiprat

Do we know who he was gesturing to in the photo'?
My guess is it was a merchant banker.
Either that or someone just nicked his 99.