Will Reid run?

The political prospects of Dr John Reid formed the main subject-matter of my Saturday Column and accompanying Podcast this weekend.

Dr Reid could easily become the latest in a series of Home Secretaries to drown under the weight of the department’s mountainous bureaucracy. But alternatively, he may – just may – manage to turn the situation round, and establish himself as a credible alternative contender to Gordon Brown for the Prime Minister’s job.

Interestingly, Guido Fawkes is today urging punters to get their money on Reid, in the wake of last week's declaration by Mike Smithson that Gordon will ultimately be beaten.

For my part, like Smithson, I reckon Alan Johnson is a marginally more attractive alternative bet, given his power-base within the union movement and Reid's relative lack of popularity with MPs.

The Little Red Book goes live

The Little Red Book of New Labour sleaze is now on sale at all good bookshops and also has its ownwebsite.

The book, detailing 101 scandals to have hit the government since the whiter-than-white one came to power in 1997, has been put together by Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes with help from around 30 or so political bloggers, including myself.

For what it's worth, I contributed entries on Ron Davies's "moment of madness," the award of peerages to deadbeat old MPs in return for safe Labour seats for Blair favourites, the routine trashing of out-of-favour ministers by Alastair Campbell and Co, and the "dodgy dossier" under which the country went to war with Iraq.

As Guido says - buy this book, and throw it at Tony Blair every time he claims to be a "pretty straight kind of guy."

Now Hague flies the kite for Tory-Lib Dem coalition

A few weeks back, it was Ken Clarke. Now William Hague has become the latest senior Tory figure to hold out the prospect of a Tory-Lib Dem coalition at the next election.

No link I'm afraid as the story was in the pesky Spectator which continues to run a subscription only website, but what he said was as follows:

"There is going to be a greater likelihood of hung parliaments and parties having to co-operate in government. There are some sensible Lib Dems, but others whose instincts are very left-wing.

"I have no idea whether the split Liberal Party, and one now with rather weak leadership, would be willing or able to work with a minority Conservative administration."

The flaw in Hague's thinking, to my mind, is shown up in those phrases "split Liberal Party" and "sensible Lib Dems."

The implication is that the Tories will somehow be able to pick-off the Nick Cleggs of this world to serve in a David Cameron-led coalition, even if the Steve Webbs of this world are vehemently opposed to that.

For my part, I find it very hard to believe that the Lib Dems would allow themselves to be carved-up in this way, given that it would lead to their certain demise as an independent party.

Hague also fails to mention proportional representation, which would be the absolute minimum requirement of any Tory-Lib Dem deal.