Which member of Gordo's Cabinet is a poet?

Whilst many of us may agree with sentiment of wishing Brown away, going back to Blair really wouldn't be much of an improvement.

Gordon Brown apparently gets his ideas from Saturday night TV, saying that he is inspired by "unlocking talent". Back he when he first became Prime Minister [remember that time? I never thought a time would come when Tony Blair would seem like a good PM.] he made a big song-and-dance about recruiting "independent talent" into his government. But mostly they've either been useless, contradictory, or just plain invisible since.

So his plan now appears to be to "unlock" the talents of his young Cabinet ministers.

If that's the best he come up with, then, well... good luck with that.

He's finally been pushed. There is no way he would have jumped, certainly not of his own accord. He was, of course, allowed to go and make and the announcement himself - all the better to remove Brown from the taint of Hain's corruption accusations by not having his face anywhere near the story. After all, he did say that Hain was incompetent.

Peter Hain's statement - full of phrases such as that he quit to "clear his name", that he felt that he has "no alternative" - just supports this. He has to try and "clear his name" in order to have any chance of getting back into the Cabinet and he had "no alternative" but to resign because he wasn't given any.

This is being claimed by some the first blogging scalp, but I think that the first real blogging scalp is still to come. Although Guido may have may some good points and posts on this issue he, and no other blogger, have yet made the necessary impact and exposure to be able to truthfully claim to have won Hain's scalp.

This is the first ministerial resignation of Brown's premiership. I'm sure it won't be the last, especially as the Hain problem rumbles on, making Harman and Alexander become sitting on a more and more precarious ledge.

... the hardest word said a hell of a lot by Labour ministers at the moment. In reverse chronology as far back as I can be bothered to go:

• Des Browne has just apologised for the failures of the MoD to properly maintain it's planes, and thus caused the deaths of 14 soldiers [though no apology for just being a part-time Defence Secretary]...

• Peter Hain has apologised for not declaring donations to his failed deputy leadership bid...

• Wendy Alexander [not strictly a minister, I know - but close enough] has said sorry for accepting an illegal donation...

• Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling apologised for the HMRC losing the personal and banking details of 25 million people...

• Jacqui Smith has apologised for misleading the British people over immigration levels...

It seems to be that saying "sorry" is just about all that Labour ministers are good for under Brown. And an apology seems to be enough for them to keep their job - for now at least - rather than actually taking the blame and resigning.

I'm sure there are many more examples of this out there as well. But I think I've made my point.

David Cameron has reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet to oppose Gordon Brown's first Cabinet. He hasn't moved too many people, except where pretty much required by Gordo's governmental changes, and hasn't shed much blood - unlike Gordon's night of the long knives.

Promotions have gone to "new talent," with three MPs from the 2005 intake reaching the Shadow cabinet - Nick Herbert to take on Jack Straw Justice, Jeremy Hunt against James Purnell at Culture, Media and Sport, and Michael Gove becomes Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, opposing Ed Balls. Cameron has also appointed non-MPs to the Shadow Cabinet - Dame Pauline Neville-Jones as Shadow Security Minister and Sayeeda Warsi as Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion, both of whom have been put forward for life peerages.

The best thing Cameron has done, I think, is to keep movement and demotion in his top team pretty small. Shadow Secretaries of State do not get civil service aid for research and so need to be on top of their brief in a way that government ministers don't quite need to be. Whilst the use of the the phrase "new talent" and the promotion of young faces and non-MPs could be seen as imitating Brown's government "of all the talents" [which of course won't be independent at all, despite the spin put on the appointments], I don't think it has quite the same aims or background reasonings. It also seems to fit in more with Cameron's nature than Gordon Brown's.

Deeper analysis and the full list of appointments can be found at ConservativeHome and Iain Dale's Diary.

Gordon Brown has announced ministerial jobs for people outside the world of politics in his new government, the idea being to portray himself and his government as open to new ideas, people, and an attempt to de-politicise issues through the appointment of professionals who, if they do not already have peerages, will be given them. Brown has appointed:

Sir Digby Jones: Trade minister
Prof Sir Ara Darzi: Health Minister, patient care
Admiral Sir Alan West: Home Office minister, security
Lord Malloch Brown: Foreign Office minister, Asia, Africa and UN
Lord Stevens: Adviser on international security issues
Lib Dem Baroness Neuberger: Volunteering
Lib Dem Lord Lester: Adviser on constitutional reform
Source: BBC

Yet will these new "talents" really be independent in any form? Not really. Even though they will not be required to join the Labour Party, they will all be expected to take the Labour whip in the Lords and vote with Labour Peers. Quite how that will work for the Lib Dem peers Baroness Neuberger and Lord Lester [and Baroness (Shirley) Williams, should she accept Brown's offer] is unknown - although the Lib Dems are claiming that their peers in government positions would not take the Labour whip. Letting his peers join Browns government is a big mistake by Ming, as Norfolk Blogger says.

What it appears is that the "talent"Brown has introduced into his government is not all that much more than a gimmick to make himself look good, and to aid his honeymoon "bounce". In the long term, it all will be revealed as a phoney attempt by Brown to remake his image. But a leopard can't change its spots.

Sources: BBC, The Times, The Guardian

Gordon Brown's first Cabinet has been announced - with musical chairs pretty much all around, with the only person staying in the same post being Des Browne at the MoD [with Tessa Jowell moving moving from Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport to Minister for the Olympics and out of the regular Cabinet].

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Chancellor: Alistair Darling
Home Secretary: Jacqui Smith
Foreign Secretary: David Miliband
Health: Alan Johnson
Transport: Ruth Kelly
Trade & Industry: John Hutton
Justice: Jack Straw
Attorney General: Baroness Scotland
Education: Children, Schools and Families: Ed Balls
Education: Innovation, Universities and Skills: John Denham
Communities & Local Government: Hazel Blears
Chairman of the Labour Party: Harriet Harman
Chief Whip: Geoff Hoon
Environment: Hilary Benn
Work & Pensions and Wales: Peter Hain
Leader of the House of Commons: Harriet Harman
Culture, Media and Sport: James Purnell
Northern Ireland: Shaun Woodward
Leader of the Lords: Baroness Ashton
International Development: Douglas Alexander
Defence and Scotland: Des Browne
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Andy Burnham
Social Exclusion & Cabinet Office: Ed Miliband

So, as the rumour mill predicted, Miliband got the Foreign Office, Darling got to be Chancellor, and Straw became Justice Secretary. The most surprising thing about the new Cabinet has to be Jacqui Smith as Home Secretary. Yes, it isn't the same position as it once was having lost prisons and the courts to the MoJ. Her appointment has to be the greatest risk for Brown in this Cabinet, since her only previous Cabinet-level job was as Chief Whip. I have no idea who she is, so the general public won't have the slightest inkling - which may or may not work in their favour. The appointment of Shaun Woodward, the defective defector Tory as NI Secretary is a bit of a side swipe at Cameron and the Conservatives.

The splitting of the Education brief into Children, Schools and Families and Innovation, Universities and Skills is an odd choice, I think, although it is quite obvious Gordo's way of saying that he will live up to Blair's 1997 promises of "education, education, education" himself. It especially seems an odd thing to do whilst parcelling Scotland and Wales off all around the place - Scotland added to Des Browne's brief [whilst still having Defence], and Peter Hain keeping Wales and going to Work and Pensions with it. It would make more sense to amalgamate Nothern ireland, Scotland, and Wales into one ministerial brief, with a name such as "Department for Devolved Government" with a non-Cabinet Ministers with specific responsibilities for each area - including England, of course, which should it's own Parliament.

Making Harriet Harman Leader of the House of Commons as well as Party Chairman and Deputy Leader seems odd, and implies that Brown has no more respect for Parliament than Blair did. Since she also keeps hold of her Minister for Women portfolio, Harriet Harman really is going to be spreading herself rather thinly for a while.

Despite having as long as he did to organise his first cabinet, Brown hasn't got it perfect. He has kept in enough Blairites to say that it isn't a complete break from the past, and brought in enough new [and young] faces to mark it as "different". But I don't think he has divided the jobs up quite right and to the right people - but we shall see.

Now that we know what Gordo's first Cabinet looks like, we just have to wait for David Cameron's response will be in the reorganisation of the Shadow Cabinet [and I suppose Ming Campbell's as well].

UPDATE: A very brief glimpse of Brown's first Cabinet meeting as PM [via The Spectator Blog]:

The reshuffle moves on through the rumour mill, with both Patricia Hewitt and Margaret Beckett moving at least out of their current roles, although there is no confirmation yet whether or not they will be moving to another job in government or out of it entirely. I expect that at least one of them will no longer be in the Cabinet after Brown's reshuffle, and I wouldn't be overly surprised if both of them were sacked.

Rumours flying around seem to predict that Miliband may become Foreign Secretary, Straw Justice Secretary (and maybe DPM), and Darling to be Chancellor... How correct are they? We will find out eventually!

As we are waiting for Gordon Brown to announce his new Cabinet - he has apparently promised the BBC the name of the new Chancellor by 6pm - it would be nice to remind ourselves who is currently doing what:

Prime Minister: Tony Blair
Deputy Prime Minister: John Prescott
Chancellor: Gordon Brown
Foreign Secretary: Margaret Beckett
Home Secretary: John Reid
Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor: Lord Falconer
Chief Whip: Jacqui Smith
Party Chairman: Hazel Blears
Commons Leader: Jack Straw
Culture, Media and Sport: Tessa Jowell
Defence: Des Browne
International Development: Hilary Benn
Education: Alan Johnson
Environment: David Miliband
Health: Patricia Hewitt
Trade and Industry: Alistair Darling
Leader of the House of Lords: Baroness Amos
Transport [and Scotland]: Douglas Alexander
Work and Pensions: John Hutton
Communities and Local Government: Ruth Kelly
Northern Ireland [and Wales]: Peter Hain
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster/Cabinet Office: Hilary Armstrong
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Stephen Timms

What will happen to them? Several we already know are leaving - obviously Blair and Prescott, but also Reid and Armstrong - but who else is to get the chop? The rumour mill has be active, and when Brown starts to announce his new Cabinet, we will see how accurate it was!