Can Clarke serve in a Cameron government?

Beer Moth

So this would be a form of Euro-scepticism lite then?

As in not remotely sceptical but the public will insist on theatre.

Frank P

"Despite his pronounced Europhile views, a Politics Home insider poll suggests that Clarke can remain in the Shadow Cabinet and join a prospective Euro-sceptic Cameron government."

A prospective Euro-sceptic Cameron government??? Waahahahahahahahaha!

JONNY

Get rid of Ken?
On the grounds that he'd make the rest of them look like insignificant schoolboy amateurs?

Tiberius

Clarke would be best suited to Party Chairman.

Hawkeye

Appoint Clarke as "Minister Emeritus without Portfolio" sort of like the Politburo had a political advisor to ensure the purity of the ideology.

Tiberius

Frank P: many of us are furious over Lisbon, but whatever Cameron may or may not have said, he's still in no position to do anything.

I wonder if you read Janet Daley and Matt in the ST yesterday?

A tactical retreat has been an effective weapon on occasions in the past.

2trueblue

He is less dangerous in than out. Clarke is a great orator and quick on his feet in an argument. It is imperative that his past experience is utilised. His love of Europe is worrying. If he goes off message then he could cause problems.

He has to think about his own legacy, does he want to be part of the future and bone up on the detail. Can he put the country above himself? We have had our basinful of MPs whose egos can't fit the job, we now need MPs who can really look after our interests.

ross J warren

Of course Ken can serve, what a very silly question he is has been part of the shadow team and can still deliver some well thought out words. I know there is a lot of bad feeling in parts of the party but, D.C. has delivered a good set of policy directions. Frankly the rational and intelligent course of action is being followed. Please remember that D.C. is our leader and as a party we do owe him our loyalty. Certainly we must never again allow a single issue divide us as this one has. Given the option I would have not signed Lisbon in but that option was taken out of our hands because we were split and allowed our hold on this nation to falter . Just as a vote for UKIP is a vote for labour, so our divided and silly party let Labour in and gave them 12 years to wreck this nation. Lets have an end to all this silly and frankly pointless moaning.
It will of course be up to Dave what Ken’s role will be in the Government I like to think he will be given a job far in that doesn’t bring him into conflict with those who are still unable to understand why we cannot simple withdraw.

EC

Fifth blog of the day David? With Massie down someone's got to keep pulling the Coffeehousers' strings don't they eh?

I'm surprised they keep falling for it.
Fraser should give you a medal!

Corvinus

Perhaps we wopuld be better governed if ministers did less "work" -it's quality rather than quantity weneed

Edmund Jerk

I like Clarke, he'll be an asset to Cameron's government.

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What makes you think the Conservatives will ever be in government?
The polls?
Quite presumptive of you.
Alfie G

JohnPage

The Bloke can help the Tories get elected. If he becomes a cabinet minister, be sure he will pace himself and not succumb to the Heseltine nightmare of pperwork to read every hour that God sends.

DavidLondon

It won't be much of a government if it can't.

In2minds

Asking the question suggests you already know the answer - NO!

Snowman

If one week is long in politics, six months borders on eternity. Labour's far from finished, and Cameron can be everything but certain to form the next Government.

Ross J Warren

If all people were brave enough to post using their real names we would have far less confusion in the party as a whole. What is that all the anon’s and silly names fear? This is a free nation and frankly it will only stay that way if people are willing to be transparent. Really its high time some of you people stopped being so paranoid. Grief What has Labour done to your minds. Brown is an essentially good man not Stalin, its his party that is the problem not the PM.
I don’t fear a bullet through my head, why do so many of you cower behind false names?
I don't !

TrevorsDen

Yes he can serve. He came back to give political clout and balance the return of Mandelson. He does not have to 'do' deep thought given that his shadow department will be broken up by the Tories.

If he were interested he could become Lord Chancellor and if not there has to be a role for someone to cut out waste in government.

Listening to Newsnight and all the pointless agonising by Ed Milliband and Greenpeace etc over non existent global warming - well sometimes its better not to master a brief. The utter and complete waste of a governments time on this laughable farrago of deceit is staggering.

PS - for what it is worth I believe that govt should be reformed to have a number of 'Deputy PMs' (4 ?) who directly run the business of govt and meet regularly with their ministerial heads, with the 'Cabinet' meeting less often.

Cogito Ergosum

Well said, Corvinus 8.16pm. A bright person can master a brief in a flash, making it look easy. So their detractors accuse them of being lazy.

Vote for Uncle Ken as President of the EU.

2trueblue

Ross J Warren. Good for you, thats your choice. My name is not false, it was what I chose.
You judgement of Brown is blinkered. I watched a panorama program following Brown, Balls and C Whelan in the early days. It showed them in 1997 pulling a stroke on the BoE and thought it was great sport. A man is judged by the company he keeps.
He is neither essential, or a good man.

Fergus Pickering

So Clarke's lazy. That's great. Lazy people fix things so that they will not have to sweat blood. The best thinking is done siting down or lying down. The great Boris is lazy too. A government of lazy people would be fine. On the other hand we have Brown and Mandelson, neither of whom can ever stop. Lazy means knowing what is important in life. Besides, it's much more fun being on television than mastering a brief. Some sweaty PPS can master the bloody brief.

In2minds

Ross J Warren, it's not my fault my very muddled parents, Mr and Mrs minds, christened me In2. You may be superior but you don't have to flaunt it.

Jon Rosenberg

Suggesting that Ken Clarke doesn't master his briefs is an astonishingly ignorant opinion. He was one of the most effective and versatile ministers in Thatcher's government and followed that up with being a superb Chancellor under Major. Whoever your think-tank supremo source is I would suggest that they're merely making mischief. There might be an argument which says that Ken Clarke doesn't do opposition as well as government as he patently dislikes having to deal with the endless hypotheticals which comes with not being in government, but anyone with any grasp of the politics of the 1980s and 1990s knows Ken is a brilliant administrator.

Watt Tyler

Ross J Warren

Is a free nation one in which a plains-clothes policeman trails a mother back to her home just because he overheard her warn disciplining her misbehaving children? Is a free nation one in which the same mother then recieves a letter from her local council informing her that they will be keeping an eye on her for the next 14 months? No, it sounds like a country that has a Stasi.

And commentators try and tell us that we shouldn't call it the EUSSR?

And by the way, noone is really cowering behind a webname, such are the powers of those who gather data.

You should try a tinfoil hat. It does wonders for preventing denial.

Vulture

@Alfie G., Snowman:
You decry the presumptiousness of posters who assume that the Tories will win the election, but this is based on solid statistical evidence - eg. Anthony Wells' excellent UK Polling Report. No Govt. in British political history has come from so far behind in the polls six months before a GE to win. Barring a cataclysmic event - a nuclear strike; a total economic collapse with food riots (not beyond the bounds of possibility under Liebour, I'll admit) - the Conservatives are going to win, and win quite to massively big. (No hung Parliament, I'm afraid).

This prospect does not fill those of us who doubt Dave's abilities with unalloyed joy (Verity, this means you), but looked at from a coldly fact-based analysis, it is by far the likeliest scenario. The only thing that could prevent it barring the above doomsdays would be massive Liebour fraud, but since they are unable to organise the proverbial drinks party in a brewery, I think that such a huge logistic rig would be beyond them - though they would certainly do it if they could.

No, unless he slips under his limousine while riding his bike to work Dave is going to be our next (and in my view disastrous) PM. Better get used to the idea, fellas.

HJ

So Ken Clarke isn't the hardest worker.So what?

Gordon Brown apparently works very hard, but who was the more competent chancellor?

General Zod

Clarke loves to give the impression of being lazy. Meanwhile, his performance as Chancellor in the mid 90s was one to shame his succesors (not that to do so would be difficult, so that is faint praise).

strapworld

The question was 'Can Clarke Serve@

Well, he is getting on but his serve was quite good. Not up to Murray's standard but quite mean tennis player in his day.

He can certainly serve a good pint of good old British Ale.

He can serve a really good cup of Tea (None of these fancy nancy flavoured tea's)

So I must say he can serve!

Andy Carpark

General Von Moltke's quadration (the Carpark paraphrase):

The clever and conscientious are very sound but may quake in a crisis. Give me the clever and lazy, for they will hold their nerve. The lazy and stupid - jobs can be found for them, like digging latrines. But the worst of all are the stupid and conscientious. They should never be allowed anywhere near responsibility. Ideally, they should be shot out of hand.

Tiberius

Ross J W: I hope you're not saying my name is false, otherwise I'll have you thrown to the lions.

David Parker

Ross Warren,
Whilst most of the contributors to Coffee House are probably normally Conservative supporters, I suspect that only a small minority are members of that party.

It is therefore pompous and patronising to suggest that we owe any duty of loyalty to the party or, indeed its leader. Part of the value of a predominantly right wing blog such as this is that it gives the public an opportunity either to praise or criticise the actions and policies of the party which they would prefer to support.

There is no indication that Cameron takes the slightest notice of grass roots opinion, however his putative ministers would be unwise if they failed to take advantage of what represent free continuously updated opinion polls in this and other blogs. Like you, I always post under my own name, purely because I feel that this gives a certain continuity of thought and argument, however, that is purely a matter of personal choice and I think it would be impertinent to criticise others who chose to use a nom de plume, some of which are quite humourous and often give a better indication of the nature of the poster than an ordinary name.

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Vulture.
Got to wind folk up a bit so they vote properly on judgement day.
I want folk to vote just to 'spite me',if you know what I mean.
I know 100% who I am going to vote for and any sympathy for Bonzo the clown Brown and his one good eye will NEVER change that.
Cameron has said NOTHING get me on side....however I TOTALLY trust Hague so as long as he stays, I stay...
Folk just need reminding because they keep going of the bloody track...(Verity the exception, being the stooge for goodness knows who).
BNP...yeah right!!!As BOB says?
Alfie G