What odds, this morning, on Chris Huhne retaining his ‘Survivor of the Year’ crown at this year’s Spectator Parliamentarian Awards? I only ask because The Sunday Times has dropped its challenge to hang on to its emails with his former wife, Vicky Pryce, about those speeding points. They’ll now be handed over to the police, and shuffled into their evidence folders for this case.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman has said that Cameron still ‘has confidence’ in Huhne — but all this does at least raise the prospect of a reshuffle. If the Energy Secretary is found guilty, and had to depart his ministership, then he’s likely to be replaced by another Lib Dem. The Evening Standard mentioned Ed Davey, Jeremy Browne and David Laws earlier this week.
Of those, Laws is the most intriguing name. He’s been keeping up his profile in recent months — most recently with an article for the Mail that set out a few reasons for optimism in the gloom — and there are certainly people in the coalition, Tories and Lib Dems, who are eager to see him return. They reckon he’s done his penance for those expenses sins by now.
But would Laws be a help or a hindrance for Nick Clegg as he looks to remould the Lib Dems this year? Deposing Huhne, and promoting Laws, would certainly shift the political balance of the Cabinet in Clegg’s favour. But it could also aggravate those Lib Dem left-wingers who think that, politically speaking, their leader is too blue-blooded already.
In any case, Laws’s appearance at a think-tank event on Monday is going to raise a bit more interest now. He’s appearing alongside Liam Byrne too — the man who left him that infamous note.
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