Oh dear. Tim Montgomerie, the very mention of whom causes me to snort, seems to be saying that David Laws, the very mention of whom causes me to take a long, thoughtful intake of breath, is in the frame for a cabinet position.
Don’t get me wrong.
David Laws is extremely talented and deserves a break. I suspect he will be given the Minister of State role in the department of thinking very earnestly while wearing a hessian shirt. I believe he is widely respected in the party for his economic expertise. But I don’t sense an instinctive connection with the grassroots.
Lib Dem cabinet positions are as rare as rocking horse fertiliser. How many is it? In my current relaxed position, I am having trouble counting… Let me see. Four. The trouble is David Cameron-Major is not going to give us another cab seat. Forget it. So who goes to let the blessed, sainted member for Yeovil take up his annointed seat in the cabinet? Danny Alexander?
I don’t think so.
Despite, and perhaps because of, the reveration with which self-masticating Tories regard Monsieur Laws, I would find it hard to imagine that he is the fantasy beer drinking partner for much of the party.
This post was amended post-publication to put away the cat’s claws and imbue it with a little more human charity.
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August 15, 2012 at 3:04 pm
all the smart money (and Mark Pack to boot) says Laws will be back in Govern,ent but not in the cabinet – i guess maybe in an attending but not part of cabinet type role (as Willetts has at the moment)
meantime you might enjoy this – its all the speculation of who’s getting what job in the reshuffle in one place. i update weekly. some people seems to be getting 5 different jobs….
http://aviewfromhamcommon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/cabinet-reshuffle-rumours-david-laws.html
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August 20, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Economic expertise? Well OK he has a double first at Cambridge, so he knows a lot more than I do. On the other hand, he was the most vociferous supporter of George Osborne’s budget deficit reduction plan that has turned out to be such a disaster.