The notion of best man for the job was never really the case in cabinet reshuffles of the past but at least many times ministers were chosen from the brightest and the best of a party’s MPs.
The floundering Blair is I feel trying to shore up his premiership by shuffling in his most loyal supporters into key positions at the expense of the quality of the members of the cabinet. Back in November 2005 Tim Ireland wrote. [via]
The only people Blair can appoint to his cabinet or count on in the pursuit of his reforms have to have backed him over the war on Iraq then and continue to back him to this day. And anyone who can do that with a smile on their face is duplicitous, stupid or woefully misinformed. It’s no longer a case of the best man or woman for the job.
The removal of John Prescott’s portfolio whilst retaining his services as Deputy Prime Minister is the most bizarre result of this recent fiasco. Hopefully this farcical thing will doom Blair but I have a feeling that yet again for Teflon Tony the shit won’t stick to him.
Does give the chance to make an awful political joke though about Prescott losing his briefs yet again. Expect to see that one in the Daily Mail if it hasn’t already appeared there.
The Conservative leader David Cameron could be right when he says that the Cabinet reshuffle shows the government has lost its authority and is in terminal decline. There is still plenty of time and opportunity for the party to win back the electorate though and I hope they can see that ditching Blair would be an excellent step towards doing that.
