Ed Davey’s reshuffle of his top team is being done in parts.
Yesterday, he announced the top three offices of state. Christine Jardine is going to Treasury, Layla Moran to Foreign Affairs and Alistair Carmichael takes on the Home Affairs brief.
Today, we discovered via Twitter that Wendy Chamberlain is taking on the role of Chief Whip alongside the Scotland and Wales and Work and Pensions briefs.
Wendy’s professional experience as a Police Officer and as a manager and trainer makes her an ideal choice for this role. The Chief Whip also has a role in managing the LIb Dem parliamentary staff and she’ll totally excel at that.
.@wendychambLD, who has been a powerful force since becoming an MP will be our new Chief Whip. Wendy will also take on the Scotland and Wales brief and fight for social justice as our Work and Penions spokesperson.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) September 1, 2020
Daisy Cooper takes over at Education. She loses her Culture, Media and Sport portfolio to former pantomime dame Jamie Stone and will no doubt take on other responsibilities. There is speculation that she will end up as Deputy Leader, a position that is decided by MPs alone.
My priorities are to:
✅ campaign to extend #FreeSchoolMeals and end #HolidayHunger
✅ campaign to sort out #SEND
✅ ensure Govt plans give children & young people a safe & supportive return to education this Autumn #schoolsreopening 2/2— Daisy Cooper MP 🔶 (@libdemdaisy) September 1, 2020
Jamie Stone retains his defence portfolio.
Thanks @EdwardJDavey 😍
I’ll keep fighting for Veteran MH and work on recruitment. It’s really important we understand how to make the forces a more rewarding and supportive career that people want to go into and stay with. https://t.co/Y8WCqxu3PR
— Jamie Stone MP (@Jamie4North) September 1, 2020
So we wait to discover what is happening with the other four – Tim Farron, Wera Hobhouse, Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson. Who will get health, transport, business, environment, rural affairs, housing and local government?
UPDATE: 7:39 pm. So I take the dog out and Ed completes the team.
Wera Hobhouse will take on Justice and will be able to chat Commons business with her Somerset neighbour Jacob Rees-Mogg as shadow Leader of the House. She will also have the Women and Equalities brief.
I’m very pleased to be taking over the Justice, Women’s and Equalities brief. I look forward to fighting on behalf of under-represented groups, and working to make Britain a more equal and fair society. I’ll also be holding the government to account as Shadow Leader of the House! https://t.co/C3j8LINFJm
— Wera Hobhouse MP 🔶 🇺🇦 (@Wera_Hobhouse) September 1, 2020
Sarah Olney gets Transport and Climate change added on to her Business portfolio
.@sarahjolney1 has already done a great job as Business Spokesperson she will do Transport and the Climate Emergency too. @LibDems will be fighting for the country to build back better. Sarah, will be focused on campaigning for new green jobs.
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) September 1, 2020
Munira Wilson stays at Health and Social Care so with her and Layla Moran as Chair of the APPG on Coronavirus, we we will continue to try to force the government into doing more to prevent a second wave.
Finally, Tim Farron gets Communities, local government, housing, food and rural affairs, all of which suit him down to the ground.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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20 Comments
I had just posted on part 1, when part 2 came out. My comment is better placed here.
I am concerned that Layla is being taken away from education. The virtue of having Layla as the education spokeswoman is that she knows education from the inside and also understands Maths. Admirable as Daisy Cooper is, she has no particular expertise in education.
Education has turned into a high profile topic at a time when we should be making the most of available talents. Layla has the ability to understand advanced statistics. I can see why Ed wants to give Layla what is traditionally seen as more important job, but the government really needs to be taken to task on the results debacle and Layla was the person to do this.
Is there a minister for crime prevention for opposition spokesmen and/or women to shadow?
Is the job being done at all?
Think of car radios, providing opportunities to start a career.
Perhaps Boris could give the job to Theresa May.
Who will be taking over Wendy Chamberlain’s previous constitutional affairs brief? Hopefully, this hasn’t been overlooked.
At first I was a little disappointed with the line up but now I see a certain logic. We need to start winning back rural seats so Tim Farron is a good call as he represents such a seat.Layla Christine and Alistair are good media performers{ the latter underused in my view]. Daisy and Wendy must receive something substantial. They must take command of their brief assisted by our talent in the Lords and then ensure media cut through. Also glad Jaime retains defence.
Yes well.
@Sean Hagan
I very much hope Wendy will keep her constitutional affairs role – she’s been doing a great job.
It seems that the answer to my previous question (at 4.57pm above) is Alistair Carmichael.
I’ll take a wait and see approach to these changes, but have to agree that we should have kept Layla in education, at least for the time being. She’s able to talk so much sense that cuts across party political lines whenever given the chance, so it doesn’t make much sense to remove that opportunity to really impress those floating and less partisan voters.
Daisy is great, and I would like to see her take a more prominent role in the party and getting more media exposure, but she’s on a bit of a hiding to nothing taking over this particular brief.
Good appointments. Daisy deserves a higher profile and should easily be capable to take on the not so daunting Gavin Williamson. Layla has been a great Education spokesperson but needs promotion.
Actually I think Layla will be brilliant at the FCO. What a contrast to the appalling Raab. And her cosmopolitan background will really help. At this time, of both pandemic and climate change, we need to work with and relate more closely to other countries and foreign affairs should have far more of a priority than it is getting.
I’m pleased Layla has got Foreign Affirs. I know she has a lot of expertise in Education, but if she stayed there would be criticised for narrow focus. And so much to attack the Tories on in Foreign Affairs, not least the decision to dump DFID, a decision which even former Tory Ministers oppose.
As far as Ms Moran at the FO is concerned, surely it’s a case of Sir Ed trying to play the ‘Shadowspokesperson Game’ without of full deck of cards! When it comes to handing out the goodies, Education rarely comes very high up in the pecking order.
Traditionally, the Education portfolio, either in government or opposition, has rarely gone to a ‘specialist’, certainly as far as the Tories are concerned. Labour has been slightly better. Ted Short was an ex teacher, and so was Estelle Morris, although she heroically quit the brief, arguing that she wasn’t up to it. It’s a pity that the current clown in charge can’t see the writing on the wall!
I suppose that, if you have any pretensions still to be a ‘government in waiting’, you are duty bound to fill all the main portfolios, even if this require doubling up in some cases or trawling the Upper House For potential ‘experts’. It all strikes me as being a bit pretentious; but if it makes you feel better, then why not?
Basically it will probably be down to Sir Ed and whoever becomes his deputy to do the heavy lifting.
Who does Brexit negotiations?
I immediately contacted Sarah, Transport.
We need a national Charger Infrastructure for future BEVs. by 2030 we will have 10 million BEVs on our roads. This needs 10 million chargers at your homes, and 1 million across our road network to keep it moving.
Make this a Lib Dem priority policy. Push BEIS into doing something realistic (they currentl say we need 6250 public charge points – ridiculous)
Andrew Sosin; Christine Jardine MP ‘does Brexit negotiations’. Christine attended the EU exit sub-committee of The Federal International Relations Committee last night and was clearly already impressively on top of her brief.
Wishing all our spokespeople well. Trusting that each one will be able to build a strong team not only at Westminster but in the constituencies.
“sarahjolney has already done a great job as Business Spokesperson she will do Transport and the Climate Emergency too”
This requires influence in Moscow affecting Siberia.
As underground fires are put out others arise and the gases emitted are more harmful to the atmosphere than Carbon Dioxide. Green co-operation desirable (Caroline Lucas MP.)
Today, 23/9/2020 there is the very sensitive case of an interview by Victoria Derbyshire (BBC) with the fiancee of Julia Assange. They want to marry. There are two children.
My asylum training is that there are regional variations and that the guidance with which we were all issued contains a footnote about South America.
Generally it is not possible to claim asylum in an embassy, which could endanger our diplomats all around the world, for example consider Belarus now.
During the wars in the former Republic of Yugoslavia there were applications at British embassies and consulates. Applications were refused on the basis that the embassy or consulate was not on UK territory. I do remember one case where a man had won an appeal on asylum and his wife applied from Zagreb (which, unlike Slovenia, was not then in an EU member state). I told the embassy to grant her four years leave to enter, which surprised an Immigration Officer when she arrived at a UK port. He just wanted my name for their records. She was allowed to join her husband. At that time Immigration Officers were not allowed to do asylum interviews or make asylum decisions. Some were tempted to assume that asylum was only about political criteria and ignored other inclusion criteria such as religion or ethnic group.
Country information for Ecuador said that the country was exceptionally generous to asylum applications but did not provide financial assistance. I did once have an application from someone who had been refused in Canada (safe) and Ecuador. He got a third refusal from the UK, with, of course, a right of appeal. At that time there was no money for enforced refusals, even a Pole who begged us to pay for his return to Poland was repeatedly disappointed.
The 1951 UN Convention is about the right to claim asylum and the treatment of those who are granted. It does not affect the freedom of any country to exercise discretion, which may have been thought relevant in the case of Julian Assange.
I have no comment on the current issue of extradition, except that the Human Rights Act might be relevant.
Victoria Derbyshire (BBC) has interviewed the fiancee of Julian Assange. I have no comment on possible extradition. There are two children. The Human Rights Act may be relevant and overrides other issues.
There are geographical exceptions on the guidance for claiming asylum at embassies in South America although, of course, any country can exercise discretion, which the UK has done many times in the past.
Asylum is much misunderstood. It is primarily about events happening in Europe before 1951. It was expanded in 1966. There are geographical exceptions which affect South America, In the UK the Human Rights Act Articles 2 and 3 are relevant. Common sense provides that war zones should be relevant, but precedents at appeal should be considered, for instance about Somalia.