A lot of Labourites (and especially Gordon Brown fans) must be pissed today (I mean the American version of "pissed" though maybe that'll lead to them becoming the British version of "pissed"). Prime Minister Tony Blair has carried out the kind of deep and extensive reshuffle that certainly would seem to point to him planning on sticking around for another year - or more. And that is of course something that a lot of Labour members (and especially Gordon Brown fans) don't want - at all.
My quick reactions:
Poor Jack Straw. He's a good and pretty capable guy and he gets pushed out as Foreign Secretary because Blair thinks he needs a new face presenting foreign policy. The prime minister should be informed that it's his foreign policy that people don't like, not the guy charged with administering it.
There had never been a female British Foreign Secretary until now? Huh. I hadn't realized that. Margaret Beckett's loyal and capable so she should do a decent job, though she's probably the last person on Great Britain you'd turn to if you really wanted a new face.
Why is John Prescott still Deputy Prime Minister? I mean I know why - but it's still rather embarrassing.
A big promotion for David Miliband. I'm sure people are going to read all kinds of things into that apropos of Blair/Brown politics.
You could make a strong argument that John Reid is the best fixer in the cabinet - but can even he run the Home Office effectively?
From the files of dog-bites-man - Ruth Kelly remains in the cabinet but gets reassigned from Education, and Education is turned over to another Blairite.
All in all this is an interesting move by the prime minister, and he likely needed to do something akin to this to get through 2006 (though I still don't think the FCO change was exactly the right call). But even with these changes, how much longer can Blair last? And how much longer can Brown wait? The summer of 2007 should be interesting.
Posted by armand at May 5, 2006 05:35 PM | TrackBack | Posted to International Affairs