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| Cabinet reshuffle: who has moved so far? | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Ken Clarke | |
| Was: Justice secretary | |
| Is: TBC | |
| Clarke, 72, has served on every Conservative government front bench since Ted Heath was prime minister in 1972, and is currently Lord Chancellor and secretary of state for justice. | |
| • Has held two of the four great offices of state: chancellor and home secretary | |
| • The Tory party website boasts that when Clarke was chancellor from 1993-1997 "Britain recovered from recession and was set on a course of economic growth with low inflation … the budget deficit was halved and interest rates and unemployment fell." | |
| • Easily the most leftwing member of the current cabinet; if he left there is a danger the prime minister would take up that position | |
| • The brown suede shoe-wearing former barrister and QC famously stayed in B&Bs with his wife Gillian during party conferences, creating the image of a man of the people | |
| • One of the few politicians who might be as well known for his hobbies as his career: jazz, birdwatching and motor racing | |
| Lady Warsi | |
| Was: Conservative party chairman | |
| Is: TBC | |
| Andrew Mitchell | |
| Was: International development secretary | |
| Is: Conservative chief whip | |
| As secretary of state for international development, Mitchell could boast that his department is the only one not to suffer a budget cut, though he has been tough in axing aid to richer nations such as Russia and China. He has been now been appointed chief whip in the Commons. | As secretary of state for international development, Mitchell could boast that his department is the only one not to suffer a budget cut, though he has been tough in axing aid to richer nations such as Russia and China. He has been now been appointed chief whip in the Commons. |
| • The son of a former Tory MP lost his original seat, Gedling in Nottinghamshire, in the 1997 Labour landslide, returning to parliament in 2001 as MP for Sutton Coldfield | • The son of a former Tory MP lost his original seat, Gedling in Nottinghamshire, in the 1997 Labour landslide, returning to parliament in 2001 as MP for Sutton Coldfield |
| • He ran the unsuccessful leadership campaign for David Davis, which the rightwing MP lost to David Cameron in 2005 | • He ran the unsuccessful leadership campaign for David Davis, which the rightwing MP lost to David Cameron in 2005 |
| • During that campaign he struck up an unlikely friendship with Cameron's campaign manager, George Osborne | • During that campaign he struck up an unlikely friendship with Cameron's campaign manager, George Osborne |
| • Mitchell, 56, served with the Army's Royal Tank Regiment and spent time as a UN Peacekeeper in Cyprus | • Mitchell, 56, served with the Army's Royal Tank Regiment and spent time as a UN Peacekeeper in Cyprus |
| • The Cambridge graduate was one of 186 MPs who voted for the restoration of the death penalty in 1994; 383 MPs voted against | • The Cambridge graduate was one of 186 MPs who voted for the restoration of the death penalty in 1994; 383 MPs voted against |
| Caroline Spelman | |
| Was: Environment secretary | |
| Is: TBC | |
| As environment secretary Spelman has presided over one of the government's most humiliating U-turns over the proposed sale of national forests. With a Lib Dem at the other key environment department – energy and climate change – Spelman has also fielded much flak over the coalition's failure to deliver on Cameron's lofty promise to be the "greenest government ever". As one commentator noted before her departure was announced, the only thing helping her cling to the seat was that she was Mrs Spelman, not Mr | |
| Cheryl Gillan | |
| Was: Welsh secretary | |
| Is: TBC | |
| Gillan began to pen her own resignation letter after she made it clear she would be prepared to leave government to fight plans for the High Speed 2 railway to go through her constituency of Chesham and Amersham; reshuffling her out of the cabinet avoids either an embarrassing exit when the final plans are published next year, or more expensive concessions to Gillan and other opponents. Without an opportunity to shine politically, and as she is not a Welsh MP, Gillan was an easy target to create a space |