Conservative Home's July survey of Tory members was the first opportunity to rate the six individuals who David Cameron recently appointed as full members of the shadow cabinet.
Michael Gove emerges as the individual who commands the most support of members. 56% said that they were satisfied with him and only 18% dissatisfied.
Sayeeda Warsi is at the bottom of the mini league. Only 25% are satisfied and 33% dissatisfied. Her appointment has angered both liberals and hawks. Liberals have been worried about her commitment to gay rights and security hawks have worried about her approach to tackling extremism. David Cameron hopes that her charisma will eventually make her an asset.
For the second month running William Hague is the most popular member of the shadow cabinet. 87% of party members are satisfied with his performance and just 9% dissatisfied. Yesterday we speculated about a bigger role for the former leader. 87% of members are happy with David Davis and 10% dissatisfied.
Caroline Spelman also emerges well from the survey. 51% are satisfied with her early performance as Party Chairman and just 23% are dissatisfied. Francis Maude regularly ranked negatively in the ConservativeHome survey.
Iain Dale compiles a monthly media tarts survey of the shadow cabinet - rating their media mentions. It's a crude measure of the shadow cabinet's work-rate but always worth reading.
I am surprised at Dame Pauline Neville-Chamberlain's second place. Her report on security was empty of anything meaningful. I won't forgive her for her role in Major-era Bosnian policy. Her appointment is at least as bad as that of Sayeeda Warsi.
I am also surprised that William Hague only has a narrow lead over David Davis. Hague is much more of a rock star in my local party.
Posted by: Umbrella man | August 04, 2007 at 09:04
I think the efforts of the shadow cabinet should be judged collectively over time as a team, rather than nit-picking and placing the members in a league table. The shadow cabinet members may well be of equal ability and share equal levels of competence, however a league table such as this can give the impression that some shadow cabinet members are inferior. So I'm dubious as to the merit of such tables.
Posted by: Tony Makara | August 04, 2007 at 09:41
How idiotic for ConHomers to be "rating" the work of people who have only just been appointed to the Shad Cab and therefore have had no chance either to prove themselves or to be disappointing.
Posted by: Tory T | August 04, 2007 at 09:46
I disagree Tony and Tory T.
We already know that Michael Gove is a serious talent. His Times columns were always essential reading and Celsius 7/7 was a brilliant book. He also led the demoliion of Ruth Kelly's HIPS plan.
Nick Herbert did a great job on police reform.
Paul Neville-Jones has produced a weak report on security.
Jeremy Hunt was a first rate shadow minister for disabled people and has been much more robust about the BBC than Hugo Swire.
Owen Paterson may be new to the shadow cabinet but he stands in the Cornerstone tradition and I welcome him being in the shadow cabinet.
I think we know more than enough about Sayeeda Warsi already. Her willingness to appease frightens me.
Posted by: Umbrella man | August 04, 2007 at 09:51
Well dear old Boris has inflicted another mortal wound on Cameron today.
Doreen Lawrence has attacked the party for supporting Boris as a potential candidate for London.(Guardian)
Another spectacular own goal....
The NuLabour PR machine must be laughing it's socks off...
The water is up to Dave's nose and it will soon rise to a fatal level
Posted by: GroundhogDay | August 04, 2007 at 10:05
Please try and keep threads on topic GroundhogDay. Please use the frontpage for such general contributions.
Posted by: Editor | August 04, 2007 at 10:12
Erm, surely you have to get their ratings shortly after they start so you can compare future ratings against something?!
Posted by: Anthony Broderick | August 04, 2007 at 10:16
Apologies Ed. Please delete or move elsewhere...
Posted by: GroundhogDay | August 04, 2007 at 10:17
Scary
Posted by: greg | August 04, 2007 at 10:30
Umbrella, I'm certainly not doubting the talent of Michael Grove or Nick Herbert, I agree completely with your comments on both. However the way I see it the shadow cabinet ought to be viewed as a team, making a collective effort. I don't think its helpful to single people out unless they are involved in serious faliure. I'm prepared to support all of the new members of team that David has put together, let's give them the time to establish themselves.
Posted by: Tony Makara | August 04, 2007 at 10:37
If I go to lunch with a political journalist, have a drink at a Westminster pub or visit any Tory gathering the performance of individual spokespeople is a frequent topic of conversation. All this survey is doing is a simple quantification of such conversations and I strongly believe that the opinion of the grassroots on shadow ministers' performance is as valid as those of Westminster villagers.
Posted by: Editor | August 04, 2007 at 10:51
We need a mix of people. Some will be media stars e.g. Boris Johnson. Others will be quieter types who get things doen. e.g. Owen Paterson.
The problem for the quieter types is that they don't shine brightly but are over a longer period a vital part of the effectiveness of the team.
If we think exclusively in terms of who looks good in media we will get a shinier and shinier team all of the same type. What we need is the right mix.
Posted by: tapestry | August 04, 2007 at 11:39
William Hague- a pity he is in a post that cannot easily win votes.
A pity George Osbourne is in a post that can easily win votes- he may be very competent (I do not know)but he does not take Brown or Labour to task over the many serious mistakes in the management of the economy.
How did Mr Willets do Mr Editor?
Posted by: eugene | August 04, 2007 at 12:09
Good question eugene.
David Willetts seems to be recovering steadily from grammarsgate. His negative rating of -23% last month has moderated to -10% this month.
Posted by: Editor | August 04, 2007 at 12:56
The Gover is a genius. Not only is he a canny political operator and an expert in exposing Labour's empty claims but his slot on Newsnight Review represents one of the very few opportunities that watchers of mainstream tv get to hear an authentically Conservative commentary on the arts.
Nick Herbert and Jeremy Hunt are also real talents. Of the up-and-coming MPs at junior level I'd single out Mark Francois who is already hammering home the arguments on Europe and Paul Goodman who is that rare creature, a serious intellectual with a verve for day-to-day, feet-on-the-ground politics. We also have some excellent young backbenchers and a number of outstanding candidates such as Shaun Bailey, Joanne Cash and Mark Clarke - and that's just in London.
The future is bright - if we keep our heads!
Posted by: Glenda Trowbridge | August 04, 2007 at 19:07
Unless I see a shadow cabinet member in the media making a good fist of it I rate them as useless. This is because they have not done the job of opposition. They have not highlighted government mistakes or errors or drawn public support for the Conservative position.
I invariably rate all of them useless which co-incides with my very low opinion of most MPs and those individuals who make it on to the candidates list.
Posted by: Midlander | August 04, 2007 at 19:36
You must have a go yourself Midlander, clearly you would be brilliant. Don't hide your light....
Posted by: Matt Wright | August 04, 2007 at 21:38
"Of the up-and-coming MPs at junior level I'd single out Mark Francois who is already hammering home the arguments on Europe..."
Absolutely.
I was very impressed with him on Newsnight last night - he seemed very sound indeed.
Posted by: Mark | August 05, 2007 at 00:19
'Charisma'?
Is that the current euphemism for 'gobby' and 'shallow'?
Posted by: Machiavelli's Understudy | August 05, 2007 at 00:38
You must have a go yourself Midlander, clearly you would be brilliant. Don't hide your light....
Posted by: Matt Wright | August 04, 2007 at 21:38
Be kind of hard if Midlander is white, male, English, and over 30....it seems to be a handicap in getting onto candidates lists in this country....his best bet is the House of Lords if he can get a non-auctioned seat
Posted by: CCTV | August 05, 2007 at 09:10
Whilst Cameron makes all the statements and acts for the shadow ministers, how can we possibly know how well the shadow ministers are actually doing anything?
How is the Dont know chart looking?
Posted by: James Maskell | August 05, 2007 at 11:06
I don't suppose you could publish the results from the last few months?
Posted by: Richard | August 05, 2007 at 22:06
How is Peter Ainsworth doing? So far during this 'attack summer' on his DEFRA brief he's had massive flooding, and now a foot & mouth outbreak. He must be getting really good coverage and ratings. Yes? Yes?
Posted by: Farmer Giles | August 06, 2007 at 09:55
All a bunch of muppets.
Posted by: Miss Tooty | August 06, 2007 at 23:01
"All a bunch of muppets" Well said, Miss Piggy!
Posted by: Tony Woodcock | August 10, 2007 at 14:55