One of the real puzzles of this reshuffle is why Nick Herbert, one of the best policy brains in the shadow Cabinet, has been moved to shadow DEFRA. The decision to hive off a Department of the Climate Change and Energy from it has taken away its most politically important and intellectually challenging responsibilities.
A more obvious place for Herbert would have been in Eric Pickles’ old job at the Department of Communities and Local Government or at the Department of Work and Pensions. The decision not to send him to either of those spots has created concern that the Tories are backtracking on the welfare reform and localism agendas.
Before the reshuffle, one shadow minister told me that Herbert would be the man the leadership sent to DCLG if it was serious about localism. The decision to send Spelman there, who was lukewarm about the subject in her earlier stint in the post, suggests that the Tories are not filled with radical zeal on the subject.
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