A current post on Labour Home features a "Fantasy Cabinet" with John McDonnell as PM, Bob Marshall Andrews as Home Secretary and Dianne Abbott as Health Secretary, among other things.This will, of course, remain exactly that - a Fantasy Cabinet, though for most of us, I expect it is more the stuff of nightmares.
Meanwhile, what of the more realistic alternatives? Well, for what it's worth, here's my suggestion for a balanced Labour team to fight the next election, providing a blend of youth and experience, male and female, Blairite, Brownite, and independent left.
Readers are of very welcome to suggest their own line-ups!
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister and Communities and Regions Secretary: Hazel Blears
Chancellor of the Exchequer: David Miliband
Foreign Secretary: Hilary Benn
Home Secretary: John Denham
Leader of the House of Commons: Jack Straw
Party Chairman: Alan Johnson
Minister of Justice: Des Browne
Minister for Consitutional Affairs and Devolved Institutions: Peter Hain
Trade and Industry Secretary: Alastair Darling
Defence Secretary: John Reid
Education Secretary: John Hutton
Health Secretary: Yvette Cooper
Transport Secretary: Douglas Aleaxander
Work and Pensons Secretary: Ruth Kelly
Environment Secretary: Charles Clarke
Culture, Media and Sport: James Purnell
Leader of the Lords: Lord Kinnock
International Development Secretary: Jacqui Smith
Minister for Social Exclusion: Stephen Timms
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: John Healey
Chief Whip: Nick Brown
Out go: Tony Blair, John Prescott, Margaret Beckett, Charlie Falconer, Patricia Hewitt, Tessa Jowell, Hilary Armstrong and Valerie Amos.
10 comments:
I'd suggest you've got too many women being replaced by men. So why nothing for Harman? Will Primarolo ever get promoted?
And I'm not sure that Reid'd take Defence (but could be wrong) even if it were offered.
But you're right about James Purnell and Jaqui Smith.
Nick Brown as Chief Whip would go down well with the backbench PBI
On another thread, did you see the recently unveiled portrait of Mary Queen of Scots and supposed to have been painted from life ? She had a fightening resemblance to Hazel Blears..........
I prefer the Labour Home fanbtasy Cabinet even though Gordon Brown surely does not merit such a high post as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
It lacks Balls. Surely Nottingham High School's most famous ex of the current political era deserves a spot?
Chief Sec to the Treasury, perhaps?
Not a bad cabinet that. I will post my version on my blog shortly.
Paul
Not a bad line up but I doybt Reidy would make it into a Brown Cabinet given their history of warfare within Scottish Labour.
Surely you have only chosen Stephen Timms is minister of social exclusion because he looks like he has been socially excluded most of his life. (Just kidding he is a good commons performer)
I take bck what I said about Ed Balls.
The post must surely go to someone with banking experience. Plenty of candidates around who used to be directors of the one and only Unity Trust Bank...
Why on earth is Charles Clarke on this list after his terrible performance as Home Secretary? Do you have a death wish for our environment?
Charles was a reasonably good Home Secretary actually, if what you look for in the holder of that position is someone reaonsably humane and liberal (eg Roy Jenkins, Willie Whitelaw) as opposed to harsh and authoritarian (Michael Howard, John Reid.)
He will get in a Brown Cabinet simply because Brown will want to cock a snook at Blair for sacking him. My enemy's enemy is my friend, and all that.
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