For what it’s worth I think this reshuffle is little to get excited over. It puts Simon back in a prominent role now his time as president is over, it moves Steve to a more suitable job and it puts Susan in a role that I think is excellent given her constituency and who the Tory candidate is. The rest is merely tinkering around the edges.

Still, education is supposedly going to be a key plank of the manifesto going into the next election, don’t forget, and there was a consultation session in Bournemouth. Given our current similarities to the Tories, it’s not surprising that brief is a bit out of the limelight just now.

(I’d like to live in the kind of political world where it was considered a strength rather than a weakness to say “Actually, we agree with the other guys on this issue, so our policy is pretty similar”, but there we go, I’m just eccentric ).

A shame, also, to see Jo Swinson not promoted. As the geeky among you may be aware, that BBC article about her being the youngest MP was one of the five most read things on the Politics site.

David Howarth at Justice is, as always, a good choice.

Sorry Elizabeth, this reshuffle does not mean that at all. Like any team strengths and motivations change. Surely being prepared to make changes is a strength not a weakness. As our Parliamentary party grows, a squad approach is possible and a luxury we have never had before.

I do agree it’s a bit ridiculous putting a woman in charge of technology (to say nothing of making that nice girl Jenny deal with all those horrible uncouth men from Lancashire), but you have to remember what poor Mr Clegg is up against. If he’d done something more sensible like making Lynne the shadow Cookery Secretary or sending Jenny to the Ministry of Poorly Children, the “PC brigade” would be up in arms!

Steve Webb’s CV shows he is an academic and intellectual; his experience makes him very suited to the Work and Pensions brief.
So why Clegg ever thought Steve would respond well to the controversies, the misconceptions and the politics of the Climate Change and Energy brief is difficult to understand.
Simon will play the hand well because it suits his personality better and I think he has done the Environment brief in the past.
He is also one of the best known Libdems because of his long high profile track record,and this is likely to help him in getting the necessary public confidence.

The beautiful Jenny is still a bit young for the difficult and dull pensions brief but would be great in a role involving direct human empathy. I’m sure she would make a good ambassador for us with young people; such a shame to make her Duchy of Lancaster whatever that may be.

David Laws was good at the W&P brief too, and the move to education seemed odd; he has gone a bit quiet since he went there.
Perhaps he is hatching up a big plan for UK education.

It is difficult to see why Clegg put Home and Justice together under Chris when the government has split them under two different ministers. Obviously better for us to get two shadows trained up instead of one.

To put Lynne behind e-technology is all very well but she is another one like Jenny who has a really human appeal.
I thought she was so good when after Brown and Cameron shouting at each other through six questions on Baby P, Lynne put her very simple polite case and Brown was so overtaken by her good manners that he actually gave a proper answer.
That’s enough shadow cabinet! I like most of them very much and often follow their lonely performances on the parliamentary channel.

Can’t see that as Charles forte though….

The point i’m really trying to make about Kennedy is this; we need a pugalist. Let’s be blunt; Clegg doesnt do combatative well, when he tries it he just looks ‘tectchy’ and thats why I think what Letterman said was basically correct….

Specifically for Huhne, though, I was slyly quibbling with the Grauniad that Clegg couldn’t move Huhne from environment now, having moved him from environment to home+justice 12.5 months ago.

Oh, and: “Clegg has not delivered his threat to remove former leadership rival Chris Huhne from the environment post.” Good to know!

(1) Goldsworthy is still in;

(2) Lyn Featherstone and Susan Kramer continue to be kept on the margins.

Is David Heath really needed in what is basically a Parliamentary admin role? Wouldn’t he be better off getting seen and heard in Frome and Shepton Mallet?