At the time of posting here are some highlights of your fantasy shadow cabinet predictions...
Only nine expect George Osborne to stay as Shadow Chancellor - 25 expect William Hague to take on Gordon Brown in a Cameron-led shadow cabinet. Willetts, Redwood or Leigh are the choices for Shadow Chancellor of the bloggers who think Davis might be leader. I'm not sure what is less likely - a Davis leadership or a Davis leadership giving the tax-cautious David Willetts the job of selling those £38bn of tax cuts...?
There is a lot less agreement about what should happen to David Davis. Twelve say he should/ will stay at Home Affairs. Ten predict a move to the defence portfolio and two see him as Shadow Leader of the House. Five think he should be Deputy Leader without other responsibilities - a few more more give him the deputy leadership alongside another responsibility.
Liam Fox is expected to stay as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Excellent news for all neocons!
Thirteen-and-a-half people expect Francis Maude to stay as Party Chairman. Five-and-a-half think George Osborne will take the top seat at CCHQ. Caroline Spelman - with three votes - is your reasonable outside bet in an otherwise very diverse field of possibilities.
Michael Gove and Oliver Letwin are favourites to be head of policy. Gove is also nominated for international development by one blogger. Ed Vaizey is also touted for big things and Nick Herbert is one person's choice for Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
A mix of jobs are suggested for IDS although most involve him having a lead role in developing social justice policies for the party.
Boris Johnson is a favourite for a big promotion - probably to Culture, Media and Sport but Education is also suggested. But who will take over at the Sextator...?
John Redwood is the favourite candidate for Mr Cameron's axe.
Theresa May is hotly tipped for the health portfolio. Other women tipped for greater things include Julie Kirkbride (to CMS) and Theresa Villiers to Shadow Europe Minister.
It's not too late to nominate your own shadow cabinet highlights... simply click here to enter this fantasy competition.
Presumably Boris Johnson if he was promoted to being Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport would be expected to resign as Editor of the Spectator as he had said he would do in the past - it is no more credible for someone to be in that post and be a major editor than for a Secretary of State for Health to be running a Health Company or a Tobacco Company. Imagine a Secretary of State for the dti being a major leader of an industry or a Trade Union Leader.
Posted by: Yet another Anon | 27 November 2005 at 22:27
The key question is Frank Field, Tim. You may have thought that my prediction of his appointment to Shadow Work & Pensions was merely fanciful (I certainly did). But here's today's Sunday Telegraph:
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/11/27/do2712.xml
Posted by: Simon C | 27 November 2005 at 22:29
Frank Field's political career is finished, his solutions were too expensive - there is inevitably a choice while maintaining overall welfare spending at or below a current proportion of GDP, increased universality will only work if rates of benefit relative to average earnings are lower, otherwise the numbers of people eligible have to be restricted in some way through stigma, workfare requirements or replacing benefits with low interest loans, or simply as in Japan state benefits can be restricted to the severely disabled and elderly with no provision for the able bodied.
Posted by: Yet another Anon | 27 November 2005 at 22:40
Editor - are you going to stick your neck out & let us have your predictions?
Posted by: Simon C | 27 November 2005 at 22:43
What about Peter Lilley as Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions?
John Redwood as Shadow Home Secretary.
IDS as Shadow Defence Secretary.
David Davis as Shadow Foreign Secretary
Julie Kirkbride as Shadow dti Secretary
George Osborne as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Malcolm Rifkind as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Theresa May as Shadow International Development Secretary
Liam Fox as Shadow Health Secretary
David Willetts as Shadow Transport Secretary and Shadow Welsh Secretary
Michael Ancram as Secretary of State for Ulster, Scotland and Constitutional Affairs
Oliver Letwin as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Andrew Lansley as Shadow Secretary for defra
Alan Duncan as Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government & Communities
Caroline Spelman as Shadow Secretary for Education & DCMS
Lord Strathclyde keeping his position as Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Francis Maude as Party Chairman and probably David MacLean remaining as Chief Whip.
Posted by: Yet another Anon | 27 November 2005 at 23:03
Frank Field has always seemed rather out of place in the Labour party to me. I think many of his colleagues were suspicious of his friendship with Margaret Thatcher.
Posted by: Alastair Matlock | 27 November 2005 at 23:04
I wld love it if you were right about FF, Simon. He is one of the finest parliamentarians of our age.
Posted by: Editor | 27 November 2005 at 23:07
>>>>>Frank Field has always seemed rather out of place in the Labour party to me. I think many of his colleagues were suspicious of his friendship with Margaret Thatcher.<<<<<
Isn't Tony Benn a big pal of Oliver Letwin, I know it's somebody who sounded really unlikely.
Doesn't neccessarily mean anything - apparently King Charles I was a big pal of James Fox despite him being the founder of the Quakers.
Posted by: | 27 November 2005 at 23:10
There needs to be a massive clearout of the Shadow Cabinet, get rid of the old-timers and bring in young, electable faces. Bringing back Hague and IDS would be a retrograde step.
Posted by: houndtang | 27 November 2005 at 23:21
I think that whilst bringing Hague and IDS back to the fore is not without risk, the fact of the matter is that to a greater or lesser extent both are more respected now than when they were each leader. I think the benefit would outweigh the risk.
Posted by: James Burdett | 27 November 2005 at 23:27
William Hague shows little interest in returning in the next few years though, he has his business career and unless the Conservatives are showing signs of being on course for government in mid term I can't actually see him joining the Shadow Cabinet - whatever the state of the Shadow Cabinet after the new leader takes over there are likely to be a few changes before the next General Election as possibly 1 or 2 decide it's time to drop out for family reasons or because they don't want to do it anymore and in response to Government reshuffles. Who knows Tony Blair might even go for further restructuring of ministries.
Posted by: Yet another Anon | 27 November 2005 at 23:38
You beat me to it Ed, I was thinking about my shadow cabinet the other day and was going to suggest it! (i think i did ages ago)
Would it be too much to have a focus each day on a different position? It would give us a space for proper debate about each one, although choices are formed by the team surrounding them so it might not be too useful after all!
It would be useful to look at the more minor positions, to see which new MPs should be on the up.
Agree about Frank Field MP, a principled and capable man.. if I lived over the pond (Mersey) I would vote for him, though would support the local association so that a raving socialist didnt get in after him with an unassailable majority!
I'm interested in International Development as much as any position (was a bit miffed at the Davids when they joked about giving the overseas portfolio to the other if they won, on Sky News) and would probably go for Gary Streeter - the Chair of the Human Rights Commission - although there are other capable candidates.
Posted by: Samuel Coates | 28 November 2005 at 01:42
What about Peter Lilley as Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions?
He could then re-visit the CSA he set up ! Maybe even bring Jeremy Mayhew back from the BBC to be his "adviser".
Posted by: Rick | 28 November 2005 at 07:21
"Frank Field has always seemed rather out of place in the Labour party to me."
Frank Field did start out as a Tory when he was a teenager - he left the Conservative party when he was 16 or 17 over the Tory party's attitude towards South African apartheid.
Posted by: Anthony | 28 November 2005 at 09:29
With regards women in the Shadow Cabinet, personally I'd like to see a Spelman/May double act for the public services portfolios. Seeing as May has already held the Education portfolio, I'd give her Health and give Education to Spelman. Kirkbride could be damned by her support for Davis, and the trouble with having so much choice for so few positions is that it's hard to find a position for her. The logical one would be Culture, Media and Sport but IIRC she held this portfolio under Iain Duncan Smith's leadership and was demoted when Michael Howard became leader.
Posted by: Daniel Vince-Archer | 28 November 2005 at 12:32
If Frank Field had his way, I would be out of a job (I work at the CSA, unless I can find something else, which is doubtful), so I am pleased that he won't!
It will be interesting to see what Sir Malcolm Rifkind becomes next week.
Posted by: Terry Keen | 29 November 2005 at 22:39