What does Gordon do on May 2nd?
James Forsyth 2:43pm
At the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, an occupational hazard of punditry, there are some interesting thoughts out there about what Gordon will do on May 2nd if the polls are right. Ben Brogan argues that what the Prime Minister needs is a “political henchman”, someone who can both give him political advice and tell him when he’s wrong. One senior Whitehall source even suggested to Ben that Alastair Campbell would relish the opportunity to return to the fray. Meanwhile over at Three Line Whip, Andy Porter outlines the bold reshuffle that Gordon is probably too cautious to carry out but that is being whispered about: Alistair Darling from the Treasury to the Foreign Office (Balls or Straw replacing him).
David Miliband from Foreign Office to Home Office.
Jacqui Smith from Home Office to Business Department (the old DTI).
John Hutton from Business Department to Defence.The thing that I’ll be watching for from May 3rd, if the Tories do win London and Labour’s vote share is below 29 percent, is comment from John Reid. He’s taken a vow of silence since quitting frontline politics so any intervention from him will carry real weight.
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Comments
Madasafish
April 28th, 2008 3:34pmGordon is never ever wrong.
So a "political henchman" to tell him when he is, is a tautology.
Liz Brown
April 28th, 2008 3:52pmAhhh - so what ballsup as Chancellor - what a wonderful opportunity to hurl the brickbats at him. Darling inherited the mess that"I'm not gay" Gordo and sowhatBallsup created between them and sowhatballsp has so far (Mcavity fashion) managed to avoid his share of the blame.........
The Laughing Cavalier
April 28th, 2008 4:02pmWhy should comment from Reid carry any weight? He didn't make a success of any of the departments he ran and didn't have the bottle to take on the Bottler.
mitch
April 28th, 2008 8:24pmwouldn't make any difference they are all rubbish.
David Boycott
April 28th, 2008 10:12pmQuite. I still remember an awful article in The Times in which Reid tried to take credit for his achievements in his various offices. They were all illusory of course but the one that really stuck in the craw was his claim to have made a success of Defence – this at a time when our troops were being killed for lack of body armour. Reid is every bit as contemptible as all the other unprincipled half-wits in government.
David
April 29th, 2008 4:12amSetting aside whether they are nice people or not if you brought Campbell, Field, Blunkett, Byers, Milburn,Clarke and Reid back at least they look like cabinet ministers. If you had them on TV all day making some sort of case it would be better than the current shambles.