Even if Caroline Spelman is completely exonerated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner she’ll still be moved from her post as party chairman. The party needs a better media communicator in the job in the run-up to an election.
If the reshuffle rumours are to be believed, Jeremy Hunt is in pole position to replace her. Hunt is one of the most effective members of the shadow cabinet and comes across well on TV and radio. But a top trio of Cameron, Osborne and Hunt is too similar. Three southern, Oxford educated public school boys are always going to find it hard to reach certain sections of the electorate. Apparently that is why the leadership is pushing William Hague so hard to do more for the party.
Conservative Home’s poll of the grassroots shows that Eric Pickles is overwhelmingly their choice. Pickles isn’t as much of a media natural and isn’t trusted as much by the leadership as Hunt but he would provide some much needed social and geographical balance to the Tory top team.
One left-field option for the party chairman job that is being discussed in Tory circles is to split it in two and give Sayeeda Warsi the spokesman’s part of the job. The leadership likes the image of the party that this straight-talking Yorkshire, Muslim woman projects. She was given the job of introducing Cameron before the leader’s speech at conference. Others, however, worry that she is not yet ready for such a high-profile job and point to the mistakes she made in her unsuccessful attempt to get elected in Dewsbury at the last election.
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