Caroline Spelman slumps in shadow cabinet league table

ConservativeHome now carries out its shadow cabinet surveys just once every two months.  The latest ratings are below with most recent on the right and reflect the votes of 1,587 members.  For new readers the percentages equal the number of members who say they are satisfied with the individual minus those dissatisfied.

Some movements of note:

• Eric Pickles has moved into second spot after shooting to near the top of the league after Crewe and Nantwich.  The Telegraph's Iain Martin has reported some briefing against Eric Pickles in recent days from key Cameroons.  They are trying to paint Eric as some sort of media tart who doesn't share credit.  ConHome spoke to Eric on most days during the Crewe campaign and he constantly paid tribute to the work of others, not least Stephen Gilbert.  This nasty briefing should stop.
• Michael Gove actually moves up one percentage point, suggesting no knock from his controversial 'Zoo' and 'Nuts' remarks.
• Andrew Lansley has now completely restored his standing following the slump that followed his interview to The Times about NHS spending.
• Dominic Grieve - who members most wanted in the shadow cabinet at the turn of the year - earns a first rating of +40%.  Perfectly respectable but well down on former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis' final rating of +87%.
• It's good to see solid improvements in the standings of Owen Paterson and Andrew Mitchell.  Members must have noticed Mr Mitchell's leading role in the hugely successful Rwanda trip and Owen Paterson's pivotal role in the new alliance with the Ulster Unionists.
• After so long rated poorly, Francis Maude is now scoring +18%.  His important preparations-for-government work may be the factor.
• The survey is obviously bad news for Party Chairman Caroline Spelman.  More members are now dissatisfied with her than satisfied.  From the beginning we have believed in Mrs Spelman's integrity but only a 100% exoneration from the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is now likely to restore her standing.

1. William Hague +87% | +89% | +83%
2. Eric Pickles +42% | +76% | +82%
3. George Osborne +66% | +72% | +75%
4. Chris Grayling +62% | +64% | +70%
5. Michael Gove +55% | +62% | +63%
6. Liam Fox +64% | +71% | +62%
7. Alan Duncan +57% | +65% | +58%
8. Lord Strathclyde +51% | +55% | +52%
9. Andrew Lansley +32% | +42% | +50%
10. Nick Herbert +44% | +45% | +49%
11. Philip Hammond +35% | +44% | +48%
12. Pauline Neville-Jones +38% | +39% | +44%
13. Dominic Grieve N/A | N/A | +40%
14. Patrick McLoughlin +20% | +33% | +35%
15. Jeremy Hunt +26% | +30% | +31%
16. Oliver Letwin +20% | +31% | +29%
17. Owen Paterson +19% | +21% | +26%
18. Andrew Mitchell +18% | +16% | +25%
19. David Willetts +22% | +23% | +22%
20. Peter Ainsworth +20% | +24% | +21%
21. Francis Maude -9% | +15% | +18%
22. Sayeeda Warsi +27% | +20% | +16%
23. Theresa May +10% | +20% | +15%
24. Cheryl Gillan +13% | +16% | +14%
25. Theresa Villers +10% | +8% | +10%
26. David Mundell -2% | +3% | +1%
27. Caroline Spelman +30% | +32% | -7%

Comments

[Letters From A Tory]

I'm still not convinced about Dominic Grieve but I think we are all willing to give him time.

No doubt he will be judged harshly by some if he fails to carry on what David Davis started.

[Sally Roberts]

Delighted to see William at the top spot! Also pleased to see Andrew Lansley re-gain ground. He may not be the flashiest performer but he is working consistently.

As for the bottom end - I am sorry to see so many women down there!

[CJ]

With friends like ConservativeHome who needs the slum media to put our MP's down!!

[onenationtory]

Sally - that's becasue they're only there because of their gender rather than having as much talent as their male counterparts. Sad - but true!

[Alan S]

Shut up C.J. This is the only way some of us can register approval or disapproval of the people we raise money for.

[Richard]

Why is William Hague top? He has been far from impressive of late.

As for the women, well as others have said they are only there because of their gender and lets face it they are pretty poor. We have three Welsh MPs why isn't one of them Shadow Secretary of State for Wales?

[Roger Evans]

I gave Michael Gove a good score despite his recent controversial remarks, not because of them. One aberration should not drag a good man down.

[Malcolm Dunn]

Quite a leap in popularity for Maude too. Why I wonder? As for me once again I had to put 'don't know' against too many names as I simply haven't heard or seen anything from them.

[James Lees]

I do hope Spellperson can not be allowed to use the excuse (if found gouilty) that she needed the nanny to do her Parliamentary work. You can campaign to change the rules but not break them unilaterally. In any case if I helped myself to my employers expenses I think I would be sacked. There is also no time bar to wrongdoing in teh real world.

[Londoner]

The survey I think has two "satisfied" ratings, "very" and "quite" (or to that effect). Does your rating system take any account of this? One might be quite satisfied with a majority of them but only a few get my "very satisified" rating and it would be interesting to see who others rate as the really high performers.

For me the relatively high rating of Andrew Lansley always surprises, as he is bland with hardly any distinctive policies. But I suppose his job spec is to keep out of trouble and neutralise the issue as an old negative for us - and people feel he's doing this. I cannot believe that anyone thinks he is really winning votes or is likely to make any difference to the NHS if he becomes Secretary of State.

With Gove, it's not just the lads' mags. This recent obsession with equality, and the quoting again with approval the Toynbee doctrine of relative not absolute poverty, makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish him from a social democrat (with added undesirably neocon foreign policy). But granted he makes an impact, which is a positive.

[Matthew]

As much as I like Grieve, he could surely be better used in another (important) post. For example Shadow Foreign Sec (with his skills of persuasion and diplomatic manner he would be ideal). Hague has not done a great deal in that post. That would free things to bring back David Davis, if he wants the job. He was always brilliant at exposing the Government's inadequacies.

[Opinicus]

Too many of these make no waves in the Press. This might be what is wanted in government but is a complete liability in opposition.

[London Tory]

End this obsession with David Davis. He is finished,and of his own choice.

We have a wealth of good talent from the 2005 intake to replace his type, people like Hands, Brokenshire and Justine Greening.

[CJ]

Alan S, so you want to shut debate up!!! are you sure your not a New Labout supporter? or even worse a Lib Dem person....are are you just one of those people who love to just winge? bet you never done a days work fo rthe party in your life... aprt from a good winge og fouse.

[Patsy Sergeant]

I agree with 'Letters from a Tory' at the top of the comments about Dominic Grieve, but I am not sure just how much 'time' we can afford to 'give' him.

I also get the impression that William Hague, is not entirely at ease as Shadow Foreign Sec: and maybe Matthew's suggestion @ 10.20 - that Dominic Grieve would perhaps be better suited to that post, should be considered.

As for Michael Gove, I think he is very strong, and ideal in education!

[StevenAdams]

Richard

Cheryl Gillan has Welsh roots (and may be Welsh). Quite apart from that, she's a very able MP.

Grieve has also done great work considering the circumstances with which he got the job.

Lansley - great guy, I'm pleased.

Hague - star performer, deserves the accolade.

Spellman - huge talent, but a badly managed mess which has had its impact (nannygate). A swift apology and refund wouldve been better IMHO.

[Mark Hudson]

I think a great deal of the responses must be comparative. As an ex-Conservative, I feel quite impressed by Pickles, Grayling, Gove (don't always agree with him) and Fox in the top 10. As for the bottom 10, I rarely hear anything valuable from May (past it), Villiers (hopeless in a vital brief) and Spelman (should have remained a branch chairman and never been let near parliament). For a Party aspiring to Government, there must surely be some talented ladies to promote and get the message across.

The high marks for George Osborne never fail to amze me. As one who has heard him 'live' and who works in the City, he is so out of his depth as to be laughable. That said, compared to Darling, Mickey Mouse would look like a sound Chancellor in waiting.

On Davis, as one who voted for him, I think he blew his career over one insane, very public decision. A shame as with people like him still shaping the Party, I always hoped one day I could rejoin.

[Rifle]

How much longer before we get rid of the dreadful Villiers? She does not deserve to be in the Shadow Cabinet.

[Edward Huxley]

I have nothing personal against Dame Pauline Neville Jones; no doubt she is an intelligent lady, but with an investment of, I believe,£50,000, she made a quick profit of £350,000 due to her job in Quintiq. (hope I spelt it right) when it was floated on the stock exchange.
I do not suggest this was illegal, but it does not look good, with all the evidence about sleaze in politics

So why is she on the Tory front bench?

[Ron McDonald]

Theresa Villiers needs to come up with some decent transport policies.

With Rail and Road there's so much scope for ingenuity and problem-solving...

[Tyke Tory]

What a fool David Davis must feel now.

He was a top performing Shad Cab member and now he is a little heard of back-bencher whose 'experiment' hardly captured the public imagination.

[Angela Brockway]

I am afraid I had to put a don't know against many of the names, as I hadn't heard of them.Is there a way that they could be 'marketed'a little more? I haven't heard much from William Hague lately,perhaps the shadow foreign secretary job doesn't suit him. We must have huge talent,so lets see and hear more of them.I really was very proud of David Davis,it is a shame that he chose to high light his thoughts in the wrong public way and therefore I just wonder that his talant has been wasted,he was brilliant at talking to the media, TV,Radio and press.A requisite that is vital

[Michael]

Why is DC ommitted?

[Peter Hill]

"Theresa Villiers needs to come up with some decent transport policies.

With Rail and Road there's so much scope for ingenuity and problem-solving..."

We should remember that she is a Barrister by trade and essentially a career politician. She's got no background in transport at all and I'd be surprised if we get any new transport policy before the election! I also wonder about her ability to manage the DoT. I have heard her been described by many is "bodering on the autistic" when it comes to her ability to work with others. Perhaps she should be moved aside at the next re-shuffle?

[Alan.Summer]

Just to repeat what others have said - I too marked 'don't know' for many of the names as I did not recognise their names

[London Tory]

re: Theresa Villiers

Transport will be a second term issue anyway, the problems are both expensive and in most cases unsolvable.

Watch out for Boris too, possibly as David Cameron's successor, and the next Tory Prime Minister but one. He has got that rare ability to 'teflon' above politics, and showed great skill in brushing off the Ray Brown fiasco.

[Ian Ward]

I'd support David Davis all the way for making a stand. There's far to many, 'sit on the fence MPs and shadow ministers' who are just 'make weight' or backbench voting fodder. If you want respect - show you've got some leadship qualities, as David has!

[Big Me]

"This nasty briefing should stop" came the siren voice about Eric Pickles.

Shame you didn't say "this nasty briefing should stop" about Spelman.....

[David Parker]

I think Owen Paterson is under rated. He did a very good job in Fisheries and is also currently doing well in Northern Ireland, which is often a thankless portfolio. I am surprised to see Hague at the top of the list, he was unimpressive during the Lisbon Con/treaty debate and equally unimpressive in his reaction to the Georgia situation. He seems to "do nothing in particular, but does it very well".

[Iain]

Mark Hudson , I agree, I cannot understand how George Osborne gets the ratings he does. With the most important brief, he hasn't managed to lay a glove on Brown, he has wasted all the open goals, and worst of all has failed to lay out any sort of political agenda that the Conservatives would like to pursue when in charge of the economy. Where do they want to take the economy? We don't know. What is his economic/political beliefs? We don't know. Does he have one? Looks unlikely.

The only reason to have a politician in charge of the economy is because they have a political agenda to change the direction of the economy, and change the taxes to achieve those aims. If its just about management then what we don't need is a history graduate and professional politician running the economy, for we can hire someone much more qualified to do that.

[Huntarian]

When, when when is DC going to do something about David Mundell?Even Mrs Spellperson makes a better contribution.

[Mr Angry]

CJ - Those of you who think that there should be no criticism of the performace of the Shadow Cabinet really would be better of at conservatives.com rather than Conservative Home.

The idea that we should all shut up and tug our forelocks to our betters, as decided by the Cameroons, is truly anathema to anyone who believes in democracy, debate and the accountability of those who seek to lead us.

Oh and Gove is the worst case of the Emperors new clothes I have yet seen in the Tory party.

[Sally Roberts]

Mr Angry, have you ever considered taking a course in Anger Management?

[Doreen]

Please let us know what Cameron's personal ratings are. Everyone I know will vote Tory (or UKIP or BNP) to oust Labour, but not one of them feels comfortable about Cameron as leader. All would prefer either David Davis or William Hague.
Others have mentioned here that Hague does not seem comfortable with his brief as Shadow Foreign Secretary. I feel that could be because he is far more euro-sceptic than DC but has to do and say what he is told. The party would be heading in a very different direction if Davis or Hague were the leader. And they would be extremely popular, too!

[Surrey Boy]

Villiers must go. Over promoted and under delivers. She is embarrasing. A big week for her coming up with BAA break up. She must not go for the cheap headline.

[Dave]

I don't think it's fair to say that the 'Nuts' debacle didn't hurt Gove.

It's just that the reasons to respect the man outweigh that one particular bit of idiocy.

What's the David Davis result, though ? That's the one I'm interested in.