Latest reshuffle news: Denham to Health; Johnson to Home Office

johnny come lately.

Did you see Newsnight last evening, When voters were asked, by Crick, what they thought of Johnson. Some were former postmen who did not want Johnson as PM!! Said he betrayed them, quite interesting!

john problem

Denham to Health? Used to be a charity worker before politics, so his heart is in the right place... But qualifications? Ah, well. We don't really expect competence, do we?

John Page

Beckett would take anything. So would Flint.

Stepney

Keep your friends near you but keep your enemies closer.

The poison chalice of the Home Office....

And, if you can't get Lumely on board enoble someone else from the telly.

The unelected in charge of the unelected in charge of us, the un-represented.

john miller

I hope now people will stop comparing Clown Brown with John Major. Major had his problems, but most of them were not self-inflicted and he was never as dazed and confused as this poor old geezer.

Enoble Alan Sugar and put him in the cabinet?!

Hilarious!

Bring back Spitting Image say I!

cuffleyburgers

Johnson betrayed all of us when he caved in on public sector pensions...

Wight Tory

Stephen Ladyman has been in the media a little lately, plus a planted question at PMQ's, I wouldn't be suprised to see him aboard the sinking ship...

Andrew

For God's sake, is anyone in No. 10 giving the smallest thought to the country?

Flemingcrag

Given that Gordon is the master of the premature announcement; mortgage relief at the Queen's speech and all that....What is the odds on an MP being announced as a Minister at an AM re-shuffle to be followed by a PM, Oh! no I'm not.

Vulture

How abt making Susan Boyle a Minister peer? She's got all the right qualifications: she's Scottish; she's a loser; and she's hospitalised with stress. But hang on a moment.. hasn't Gordo already been ringing her up?

David

The Home Office has been a bit of a graveyard for political careers recently. Nobbling Johnson?

Mike, Brighton

Note that Brown puts his key rival Johnson in the Home Office, that "most unforgiving of ministerial posts". Even at the fag-end everything is still calculation

R

As I've said before, I really don't get what the supposed attraction about Johnson is: his claim to be PM seems to be based on not being specifically hated.

But Johnson is staggeringly dull; I'm more interested in Sean Woodward, he reminds me of the shadowy character 'Seyton' who turns up as Macbeth's companion towards the end of the play. He seems to specialise in hanging around dying administrations, first Major, until he decamped to Labour, and now Brown. Presumably he'll defect back to the Tories soon.

PS on the Macbeth theme, I think that the residents of Dunsinane are in for an interesting day, as Birnam Wood is moving rapidly in that direction. I wonder if Johnson was born by C-section?

stephendc

Where are you guys getting this stuff? Denham to health? Purnell was offered education? Is any of this remotely right?

Marcus Cotswell

I do hope you're not going to get so sidetracked by the rearranging of the Titanic's deckchairs as to overlook the County Council/UA electin results ...

TrevorsDen

The point now is that there will be no rebellion.

In the words of Enoch, Purnell gave the cabinet rebels a loaded revolver but they did not use it.

Brown is going to stumble on with the useless Johnson as Home Sec.

kbp61

Shaun Woodward has appeared all over the airwaves in the poast few days and sat at the left hand of the Great Helmsman at PMQ. I suggest he is destined for a promotion.

oldtimer

It all sounds desparate stuff.

Thinking back to PMQs, Cameron was blamed for missing an open goal. I think this was the wrong analogy. Chess offers a better way of examining the exchanges. In not going for the open goal Cameron, in effect, sacrificed a piece on the board. Instead, by concentrating on Darling`s position and the need for a general election now, he has Brown well and truly forked.

The Darling position is clear - leave him where he is and he looks weak; replace him with Balls and Brown risks losing everything (Darling resigns, more petrol on the flames of back bench revolt).

The general election call is just as dangerous for Brown. The Brown spin is the need to get on with the job and clean up Parliament. Yet a majority of voters want an election now. They do not trust this House of Crooks and Clowns to reform themselves. The Brown spin will not wash him either white or dry.
I remain of the belief that next weeks motion for the dissolution of Parliament will assume great significance if enough Labour MPs decide to revolt and support the motion. Why should they contemplate the turkeys vote for Xmas option? Because the bird in hand of dissolution benefits now trumps the two birds in the bush of waiting for bad news from Sir Christopher Kelly`s enquiry into what they should really receive.

Ken

@kbp61 "destined for a promotion"

... and then imminent destruction like the lot of them.

Certainly should he have the effrontery to re-defect I trust Tories will show him the path to Beachy Head.

JJS

And all of them recycle Mandelson's unspeakable horse**** that Brown is at the "top of his game". You can't make this stuff up!

Ian C

This is like pouring concrete across the top of a bottomless pit to try to seal the hole. A waste of good concrete and unachievable.

Events... like the election results, backbench anger and a challenge from somebody serious. Hutton perhaps....? A decent man who saw the problems of promoting Brown and failed to act then.

David Bouvier

JJS - Mandelson speaks the truth: Gordon Brown IS at the top of his game. He can't do any better than this.