Ever since the Parliamentary Commissioner began his inquiry into Caroline Spelman she has been in an odd political limbo land, neither sacked nor acquitted. Now, Sam Coates reports that we might not know the commissioner’s verdict until the New Year.
One thing that has changed during the inquiry is the desirability of Spelman’s job. A few months ago the party chairmanship was a much diminished role, there was even talk that some shadow cabinet members wouldn’t take it as they considered the job to have become pretty much meaningless. This was an understandable point of view. George Osborne was doing the party’s political strategy, Andrew Feldman was running CCHQ and Lord Ashcroft was in charge of target seats. But now, Osborne has cut back on his strategy role, Feldman has been damaged by the bad judgment he displayed during the Deripaska affair and you wouldn’t bet against the Lord Ashcroft’s tax status becoming a major issue before the next election.
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