Same faces in Cabinet, say Tories

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first Cabinet is full of the "same faces behind the failures of the past 10 years", the Conservatives have said.

Party chairman Francis Maude said the Brown team, containing figures such as Jack Straw and Alistair Darling, could not "deliver the change" needed.

The Conservatives have compiled a "dossier" criticising the record of several members of the government.

Mr Brown still has to finalise some of his ministerial appointments.

New entrants

But he has chosen his Cabinet, which has held its first meeting.

Altogether, 14 members of Tony Blair's final Cabinet remain, although there has been a reshuffle.

Nine people are promoted to this rank. Of these, two - Commons leader Harriet Harman and Geoff Hoon - have previously served in the Cabinet.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "He [Mr Brown] may have moved people around the Cabinet table but there are remarkably few new faces."

He added that the prime minister wanted to "be the change" but could not as he was associated with the failures of the Blair years.

Mr Maude said: "We congratulate the ministers on their appointments.

"But no matter how much Gordon Brown reshuffles ministers and re-brands departments, he can't change the fact that the same people behind the failures of the past 10 years are still running the government."

He added: "Just like Gordon Brown, they're part of the past not the future, so how can they deliver the change the country needs?"