Peter Hyman’s piece in The Times today is well worth reading if only for this anecdote about one of the Blair reshuffles.
Hyman’s serious point—that David Miliband should be made Chancellor—is revealing of the mindset in New Labour circles at the moment. Personally, I think Brown needs a more radical reshuffle than that. I also wonder how Ed Balls would react to Miliband getting that job and being made the heir apparent.On another occasion an MP was sacked for doing nothing wrong. It was merely that when she was replaced in her current job, someone forgot to pencil her in for a new one. The mistake was only realised once the reshuffle had been completed. Mr Blair had to come out with the implausible sounding football manager’s response, telling the shell-shocked MP that he “was playing a rotation system, and she would soon return to government”.
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