A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Who will Brown promote?

The Sunday Telegraph is not my normal weekend reading (I take the Observer 'cos I like Jay Rayner's restaurant reviews and News of the World because when I was put through Labour Party training for parliamentary candidates Kevin McGuire told us all we had to read the red-top tabloids or we wouldn't have a clue what ordinary voters were interested in) so I was grateful to The Daily for linking to this article about what Brown might do as PM.

The bit that particularly cheered me up (assuming it is true) is the list of who Gordon will promote:

"Three of his strongest allies and advisers, Ed Balls, the Treasury minister, Yvette Cooper, the communities minister and Ed Miliband, the Cabinet Office minister, would be racing certainties to be elevated.
However, Mr Brown, who claims he wants to lead a "Cabinet of all the talents", would also be likely to promote a cadre of young ministers who have been associated with Mr Blair. These include James Purnell, the pensions minister, seen by many as a good bet to take over from his former boss, Miss Jowell, as culture secretary, Liam Byrne, the Home Office minister, Andy Burnham, the health minister and Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister. Others who might make the grade include the schools minister, Jim Knight, and Phil Woolas, the local government minister.
One outsider for a Cabinet post could be Jon Cruddas, a former Downing Street aide now fighting, according to supporters of Mr Brown, a "dynamic campaign" to be Labour's deputy leader. A strong performance here could see him being asked to take a senior post, although he may not want one.
Those around Mr Brown admit that his chosen group of rising stars, seen by many observers as more able and experienced than their Tory counterparts, does not contain enough women. There could therefore be advancement for female Labour MPs to jobs just below Cabinet rank but designed to raise their profile and let them display their competence. Names often mentioned here include Sarah McCarthy-Fry, one of the Chancellor's parliamentary private secretaries.
Strong favourite to become Mr Brown's Chancellor ... is Alastair Darling, the Trade Secretary. ... Mr Balls would be likely to be appointed his number two, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
... John Reid, seen as the only serious potential challenger to Mr Brown from within the Cabinet, is likely to stay on as Home Secretary.
... What will the future hold for another of Labour's young Turks, David Miliband? He is likely to stay on as Environment Secretary, albeit with both his role and his department beefed up to show that Brown "is deadly serious about green issues".
... Two women in largely organisational roles, Hazel Blears (party chairman) and Jacqui Smith (chief whip), are tipped for promotion because Mr Brown is thought to regard them as having done "excellent" jobs. Meanwhile Ian Austin, Mr Brown's former press spokesman who is now a backbencher, is likely to be brought into the government whips' office to "shake it up"."

Now that could all just be speculation, but if it's true it sounds like a team line up that will stand a good chance of winning Labour a fourth term, so I hope it is accurate.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is a minor scandal that Yvette Cooper isn't already in the Cabinet.

12:57 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Those around Mr Brown admit that his chosen group of rising stars, seen by many observers as more able and experienced than their Tory counterparts, does not contain enough women. There could therefore be advancement for female Labour MPs to jobs just below Cabinet rank "

Maybe Dawn Primarolo can get a promotion after all these years as Paymaster General.

Among female new names, I would suggest Jessica Morden.

3:32 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks great to me.

If this is true we can look forward to a rejuvenated party in government.

3:43 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Blogger Luke Akehurst said...

I agree about Jessica Morden.

4:11 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's a minor scandal that Yvetter Cooper didn't get sacked 5 years ago. What is the big deal about her?

5:12 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yvette Cooper is a brilliant housing minister. I wish her all the best.

8:30 pm, January 03, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In terms of new female MPs for junior government ranks, I wouldn't be surprised to see Helen Goodman and Natasha Engel to reach that level

2:22 pm, January 04, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Helen Goodman spoke at a North East Compass event before Christmas and people found her very impressive.

5:12 pm, January 04, 2007

 

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