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increasing the likelihood of Alastair Darling bagging Brown's current job
Was always a given I think, Gordon Brown obviously intends Ed Balls ultimately to be Chancellor of the Exchequer and then follow him as leader, but Ed Balls is not going to do a George Osborne but rather have other roles first - probably Chief Secretary to the Treasury next, maybe President of the Board of Trade. Think Dawn Primarolo is probably going to be the next President of the Board of Trade.

People like Caroline Flint and Phil Woolas are on the rise and likely to enter the cabinet. I imagine Gordon Brown will be keen to promote people such as Parmjit Dhanda up the ladder, some surprise appointments I think - I'm sure Gordon Brown will be looking to have the first female Home Secretary (Hazel Blears perhaps) and first female Defence Secretary (Patricia Hewitt perhaps), there has been a run of appointments where it is the first of it's kind in some way, he wants to portray himself as being female friendly.

John Hutton and Charles Clarke are now backing Gordon Brown and I think this leaves Frank Field with the choice of standing himself or feeling that there is no one he can vote for, if it does actually go beyond the nominations stage it could well be Gordon Brown vs Michael Meacher vs Frank Field.

From a Tory point of view, Blears as Home Sec is a mouth-watering prospect as she would be destroyed on a weekly basis by Davis, or anyone else for that matter. From a national perspective though, giving her the home office is a terrifying prospect

Thoughtful of him to announce it to The House of Commons........

No doubt Keith Vaz will be his replacement

The prospect of Patricia Hewitt talking to the armed forces representatives in the same arrogant & condescending way she does to the medical profession fills me with horror.

It is also a disgrace that she will be able to survive the fiasco that is now the NHS and the junior doctors training disaster by just moving on to a different role. Probably good for us in the NHS to lose her, however.

People such as Blears and Hewitt do however have one upside - they certainly bring down the credibility of their party!

Well with John Reid standing down from the Cabinet, and Charles Kennedy forced to quit as leader of the Liberal Democrats, should we soon expect a Conservative equivalent of a senior sulking Scot consigned to the backbenches, hoping to usurp the party leadership in a few years' time?

David Mundell perhaps? Or Sir Malcolm Rifkind? Or, um, you know that other chap...

Re: Gordon Brown's McCabinet - Reid's resignation has opened the door to some interesting possibilities, but he does have quite a difficult juggling act to perform with his campaign manager (Jack Straw), his acolytes (Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls, Nick Brown, Des Browne, Alastair Darling, Dawn Primarolo), the young pretender (David Miliband) and probably the next deputy leader (if it's Hilary Benn or Peter Hain or Alan Johnson) all needing to be squeezed in somewhere.

I think I wouldbe starting to wonder how long it will be before Frank Field crosses the floor.

By far the best and most honest politician Labour has and I would have thought far closer to the Tories than to Brown.

A lot of familiar faces from the Labour cabinet are likely to be going though which will make space - Tony Blair, John Prescott, John Reid and almost certainly Margaret Beckett, Hilary Armstrong, maybe Jack Straw even, I imagine Margaret Hodge will be getting the boot.

No doubt Keith Vaz will be his replacement
I think Charles Clarke (Loose cannon who was fired after failing to get to grips with the Home Office), David Blunkett (That scandal over him helping his au pair with her immigration approval will probably follow him for the rest of his time in parliament) and Keith Vaz (The Hinduja scandal after all was one of the more seedy of the Labour scandals from early on in the Tony Blair era that Labour are keen to eradicate from the thoughts of most of the general public) are all out of the question for a return. Alan Milburn doesn't want to be a government minister and even when he was was doing the hokey cokey!

I agree with you completely, Richard Tyndall @ 15.41:

"I think I wouldbe starting to wonder how long it will be before Frank Field crosses the floor".

I like his transparent honesty, as well as ability. What would the transfee fee be, I wonder? Also, what about Kate Hoey as well, for the ame reasons.

I think I wouldbe starting to wonder how long it will be before Frank Field crosses the floor.
If he was going to defect he would have done it in the time that Michael Foot was leading Labour, I imagine he will stay on and try and encourage those with similar opinions inside Labour which is also what Tony Benn has been doing although with radically different intent.

Couldn't see Frank Field joining the Conservative Party or Liberal Democrats - more likely forming a new party, UKIP or Veritas might be a possibility perhaps?

John Denham to replace him maybe? He's certainly much more talented than John Reid and has chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee for a while now so he would know the department inside-out.

Though as a Tory I am, of course, rooting for Hazel Blears.

This is an interesting development and it could be the first sign of the cracks which are running close to the surface in a embattled Labour party.
John Reid and Gordon Brown have had a very well documented feud going back to their days as up and coming politicians in Scotland.
Just list the people that Gordon Brown has fallen out with and remember that he managed to do what Heath did with Mrs Thatcher on several fronts with various high ranking Labour ministers. Mrs Thatcher had the brooding presence of Ted Heath on her backbenches, Brown will have an army of similar malcontent's on his.

Mrs Thatcher had the brooding presence of Ted Heath on her backbenches, Brown will have an army of similar malcontent's on his.
John Reid though is backing Gordon Brown and freely says that Gordon Brown said there was a position for him in his cabinet so it is unlike Edward Heath and Malcolm Rifkind, both of whom on losing a leadership election said that the only position they were interested in was the position of Foreign Secretary and then after not being offered these positions refused to play any further part in the party frontbench and refused to support the leadership.

A lot of familiar faces from the Labour cabinet are likely to be going though which will make space - Tony Blair, John Prescott, John Reid and almost certainly Margaret Beckett, Hilary Armstrong, maybe Jack Straw even, I imagine Margaret Hodge will be getting the boot. - Yet Another Anon

Tony Blair will be replaced by Gordon Brown.

John Prescott doesn't really leave a Cabinet vacancy to be filled, as Hilary Benn/Peter Hain/Alan Johnson will need a position on top of the current ministerial bag-carrying role assigned to Two Jags and Jon Cruddas would serve as deputy leader outside the Cabinet (Hazel 'Nuts' Blears would probably accept a Prescottesque paper-shuffling role though).

Brown's replacement will either be somebody very close to him who he can trust and keep an eye on or somebody he wants to destroy with the economic timebomb he has pieced together. The prime contenders in one of those categories are Ed Balls, Alastair Darling and Jack Straw; in the other category, the prime contenders are David Miliband, David Miliband and David Miliband. (I'm not sure where Brown's current number two Stephen 'Who?' Timms will fit in when the dust settles.)

I imagine the positions of Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary will largely depend on the outcome of the deputy leadership contest, as Benn and Hain are both believed to have their eyes on the FCO and Johnson would arguably be a credible post-Reid Home Secretary. Whatever happens, Margaret Beckett's utterly useless tenure at the FCO is almost certainly coming to an end.

probably the next deputy leader

This could be an interesting one. Jon Cruddas has made it clear he doesn't want a departmental portfolio and even attacked the idea that the deputy leadership election is to determine who's going to be Deputy Prime Minister - he instead seems to envisage it as a better link with the grassroots. Is it possible that if another candidates wins, Gordon Brown might sign up to this idea and use it to cut down the claims for senior office?

John Prescott doesn't really leave a Cabinet vacancy to be filled, as Hilary Benn/Peter Hain/Alan Johnson will need a position on top of the current ministerial bag-carrying role assigned to Two Jags and Jon Cruddas would serve as deputy leader outside the Cabinet (Hazel 'Nuts' Blears would probably accept a Prescottesque paper-shuffling role though).
Don't forget Harriet Harman - she currently is Solicitor-General, not in the cabinet.

John Cruddas said he wanted to seperate the positions of Deputy Leader and Deputy Prime Minister\First Secretary of State (the former not actually being an officially recognised role), he didn't rule out serving in the government though in some role or other.

The prime contenders in one of those categories are Ed Balls, Alastair Darling and Jack Straw
Although probably more able to do the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer than any current cabinet minister, I imagine that Gordon Brown would be likely to feel as others in the Parliamentary Labour Party would that in government it would not be appropriate for someone to be promoted straight from a Minister of State level role to that of Chancellor of the Exchequer which really is the highest cabinet position after that of Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the only cabinet minister other than the Prime Minister to have another cabinet minister actually answerable to him.

Don't forget Harriet Harman - she currently is Solicitor-General, not in the cabinet. - Yet Another Anon

Ha ha hee hee, oh stop it, you're killing me! I find it difficult to see Harriet Harmless mobilising enough support for her Sister Suffragettes platform to even enter the post-nominations contest, let alone win it. There's more chance of Ed Balls serving as Michael Meacher's campaign manager...

Yetanotheranon @ 16:10, if you believe that then you will be part of the brigade in the Labour party who think that Tony and Gordon have been great friends throughout the last 10 years. It is not what they say in front of the camera which causes the damage and infighting now rife, but rather off the record briefing which tells the story.

If John Reid wanted to rubbish Gordon Brown he would now have no reason not to do so, John Hutton and Charles Clarke have already done so and while they have made it known that they desire to serve in a Gordon Brown cabinet John Reid has announced that he will not, if he is critical of Gordon Brown now there really is nothing much Gordon Brown can do as he is going to the backbenches.

Certainly there are tensions within all the major political parties included inside frontbenches but actually while Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have had disagreements they do appear to have remained on friendly terms outside of politics, it isn't like with Robin Cook where he would cross the street to pick a fight with Gordon Brown and didn't care who knew it.

Tensions between a Prime Minister and a Chancellor of the Exchequer are normal - when weren't there vigorous arguments between the 2 in the past - John Major & Kenneth Clarke, John Major & Norman Lamont; Margaret Thatcher & Howe, Lawson & Major; Even Jim Callaghan & Dennis Healey. Nigel Lawson after all was actually ignoring government policy. If Tony Blair had wanted to he could have offered Gordon Brown another position after the 2001 General Election and fired him if he refused to take it.

YAA @ 17.38:

"If Tony Blair had wanted to he could have offered Gordon Brown another position after the 2001 General Election and fired him if he refused to take it".

The Blair/Brown relationship over so many years offers interesting insights into both of them; IMV they are both weak: Blair should have fired Brown for extreme disloyalty and Brown should have resigned because of Blair's reneging on the famous pact.

They only ever work together in the run up to an election and each has his own agenda and is largely driven by their personal ambitions and desire for a place in history. To hell with the needs of the country!

Ruth Kelly is due a move - she's left a trail of ill-feeling behind her - just what the Home Office needs

I had forgotten Kate Hoey. Another excellent politician (and since I have a low opinion of all politicians that really means something).

Again she would be an asset to the Conservatives and I do wonder how long she will be able to stick Brown's party.

Much as I like the aims of UKIP I would hate to see Frank Field join them. I doubt very much if they have the resources or ability as a party to help him keep his seat at the next election. And he would be one of those rare people - a loss to Parliament if he left.

I think I will rejoice more when the toxic Reid ceases to be part of our political landscape than I will when Tony Blair departs. Am sat here realising just how much I detest John Reid: nasty-minded, thuggish, repellent, smug, morally-suspect, judgemental and just downright bloody too dangerous (in the zero-interest in democracy sense) to be anywhere near the levers of power, let alone the bloody Home Secretary. Just go.

Say what you think Graeme!!! (I agree with every word)

Blair it seems is going, but is Prescott?

What's the betting he decides to cling on to the shadow prime ministership he's enjoyed under Blair, breaking up Britain into regional government, and really untouchable for his loyalty to Brussels?

Blair is ramming through the EU Constitution as his last hurrah - and no doubts expects to receive euro-favours in his retirement for having done so.

Will Gordon Brown really become an open eurosceptic with Blair gone? It is far more likely he has made his own separate deals with Brussels - the Euro? PR? Will he openly declare that regional government is de facto and no longer maintain the pretence that Westminster has now become?

It's a grim prospect but it seems highly Brown would have achieved total subjugation of the media and the Labour Party without a eurodeal to seal his authority with the 'network' that secretly rules Britain.

Blair it seems is going, but is Prescott?

What's the betting he decides to cling on to the shadow prime ministership he's enjoyed under Blair, breaking up Britain into regional government, and really untouchable for his loyalty to Brussels?
As I understand it Labour's NEC have decided that the deputy leadership election will be at the same time as the leadership election, it is now not up to John Prescott even if he wanted to remain, to remain he would have to put himself up as a candidate and there is no way he could win, in fact he would now be unlikely to get enough nominations to be a candidate.

Gordon Brown isn't going to offer him a job in the cabinet!

This is good news for us certainly, one of labour's biggest hitters is so appalled by the prospect of Gordon Brown being prime minister that he has packed himself off to the back benches.

One of the suggestions is that Jack Straw will get a second chance to be home secretary. Is this Gordon's idea of bold new thinking, recycling cabinet ministers from a decade ago?

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