Fantasy Cabinet

jkitleft Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 03:39:26 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

With Gordon Brown soon to become PM, there is speculation as to what his cabinet will look like.

What would your cabinet look like if you were PM?





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Fantasy Cabinet | 46 comments (46 topical)

Re: fantasy cabinet (#1)

by Lorin on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 04:24:53 PM GMT

Brown's cabinet: Defence:Tom Watson/Douglas Alexander Chancellor:Straw Education: Johnson Environment: Milliband Foreign: Benn Thats all I can think of. I sure hope he boots out Hodge and the homophobic Ruth Kelly. My Cabinet: Chancellor: John McDonnell Environment: Milliband (surprise) Culture: David Lammy Home: Hain Forign: Benn Defence: Sadiq Khan Transport: Jon Cruddas Health: Mark Fisher Education: Glenda Jackson Justice: Harriet Harman NI/Wales: Straw Scotland: Jim Devine Commons Leader: Tom Watson Cheif Whip: Harry Cohen Community: Andy Slaughter Treasury: Jeremy Corbyn Health: Neil Gerrard Leader of the Lords: Lord Ahmed Work and Pensions: Katy Clark International Development: Julie Morgan Industry: Michael Meacher


Re: fantasy cabinet (#2)

by petercoe on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 06:03:32 PM GMT

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State: Jack Straw
Chancellor of the Exchequer: David Miliband
Leader of the House of Commons: Patricia Hewitt
Foreign Secretary: Hilary Benn
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: Stephen Timms
Home Secretary: Alan Johnson
Secretary of State for Health: Yvette Cooper
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport: Caroline Flint
Secretary of State for Devolved Government and Communities*: John Denham
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council: Baroness Amos
Lord Chancellor: Baroness Scotland
Secretary of State for Justice: Douglas Alexander
Secretary of State for International Development: Gareth Thomas
Secretary of State for Education and Skills: Andy Burnham MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Liam Byrne
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Ben Bradshaw
Secretary of State for Defence: Hazel Blears
Secretary of State for Transport: James Purnell
Party Chairman (in cabinet without portfolio): Jon Cruddas
Chief Whip: Alastair Darling
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: Dawn Primarolo

OUT: Blair, Prescott, Reid, Beckett, Jowell, Armstrong, Hain, Falconer, Kelly, Hutton, Browne, Smith

* I've combined the Secretaries of State for Wales, NI and Scotland into the Communities & Local Government portfolio.


Re: fantasy cabinet (#5)

by swatantra on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:13:55 PM GMT

petercoe is nearly there, apart from Hewitt, Byrne, Burnham, Thomas. But it'll probably be the above... with all of them wearing Gordon Brown masks, seated around the Cabinet Table.


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#6)

by jkitleft on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:58:49 PM GMT

Liam Byrne is one of the most overated ministers. Patricia Hewitt has been a godawful Health Secretary


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#7)

by petercoe on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 09:38:16 PM GMT

Gareth Thomas is one of the nicest people in politics - he'd be an excellent DFID Sec. Hewitt needs to be moved, but I doubt she'd be sacked (she's well in with Brown and to be fair she was a decent Trade Secretary) - toyed with putting her in justice, but thought that too high profile: she needs a quiet backwater to recuperate.

Swatantra may not like the up-and-coming Blairites, but they're coming up whether you like it or not! Burnham's better than Purnell.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#8)

by Sensible Comrade on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 11:49:33 PM GMT

Surely Miliband is still too young to be Chancellor? Surely? I'm not a fan of Jack Straw, but since he's Gordo's campaign manager I suppose it is inevitable he'll be landing a top job.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#9)

by petercoe on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 11:56:06 PM GMT

What's age got to do with it? It should be about ability.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#10)

by HOWLERMONKEY on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 09:14:17 AM GMT

"It should be about ability" Thats Miliband out then.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#11)

by jkitleft on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:39:58 AM GMT

No way Milliband as chancellor. Agree with Howler Monkey, Straw might get chancellor, because he will probably be borew with going back to the Home office or the Foreign office, and he can expect one of the great offices of state.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#12)

by jkitleft on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:40:12 AM GMT

'bored'


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#13)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 01:06:46 PM GMT

Intriguing how you can post such a comment about Miliband and leave entirely unremarked the quite absurd suggestions conjured up by AWB - wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that he's nominated hard-left candidates with zero experience of government that you happen to admire whereas Miliband's only failing is being new Labour? Of course not.

Miliband has more ability than...well, I was going to say the entire Campaign Group put together, but then any average sixth former can say that, so I'll reflect more on a suitable comparison.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#16)

by Lorin on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:19:29 PM GMT

Whats absurd? Wanting to give all the party a voice? I don't think Milliband had such a huge experience before entering the cabint. John McDonnell however, was deputy leader of the GLC. He in fact had more experience than Blair, who was a lawyer. Tom Watson, David Lammy and Sadiq Khan are hardly "hard left". No need to get into a childish comment war since probably best in that. We need a cabinet that represents the party, not a particular wing of the party.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#17)

by Lorin on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 04:20:41 PM GMT

*Im probably best


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#18)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 05:37:31 PM GMT

What's absurd - pretty much every single suggestion you've come up with.

Never claimed that Sadiq Khan was hard left - but most of your choices were. He has, however ZERO ministerial experience, no experience of the armed forces and doesn't even have experience of being in power in a local council.

It's laughable that you think someone so inexperienced that should go straight into the cabinet: maybe a junior ministerial position, but into the cabinet? Do us a favour. That's what's absurd.

And no, the cabinet should not represent the party: it should represent the best talent on the government benches. The Cabinet administers the country not the party: reflectiveness of particular cliques and groupings has never been a requirement (let alone a good idea). That being the case you can draw your own conclusions as to why the hard left is (and will continue to be) completely excluded from the cabinet.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#21)

by Lorin on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 06:22:48 PM GMT

Well Khan has no experience of the armed forces but neither does Hazel Blears(your choice), John Reid or Des Browne. I think some new talent would actually be good, much better than the current ministers. The Cabinet should represent all opinions of the party, and they administer the country, they don't have to agree on everything.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#24)

by jkitleft on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 07:13:05 PM GMT

I think balence is important. why? because otherwise you get the same clique with incompetent ministers like Margaret Hodge and Ruth Kelly


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#25)

by Lorin on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 07:47:19 PM GMT

True, whats the point appointing a homophob as secretary of state for communities and equality if she doesn't even beleive in equality? Same goes with Hodge, I read somewere that here comments were endorsed by Nick Griffin.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#26)

by Lorin on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 07:48:09 PM GMT

*her (I'm not very good at typing fast)


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#29)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:07:36 PM GMT

First, evidence your claim that she's a homophobe with on single sourced quote please. Or, for that matter, that she doesn't agree with "equality" (and you'll have to define what you mean by "equality", please).

Second, if you announced that today is Sunday 10th June 2007 and Nick Griffin happened to agree with you would you announce that you got the date wrong or just accept that simply because someone with generally distasteful views happens to agree with one of yours in itself that doesn't make your view wrong?


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#28)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:03:09 PM GMT

Well, if you accept the premise that Hodge and Kelly are incompetent (which I don't) the issue is that they're incompetent, not that they're from a particular wing of the party.

My point (which you seem to agree with when it comes to selecting parliamentary candidates, but apparently not in respect of cabinet ministers...) is that a ministerial position should be awarded to the most able candidate, not on the basis of quotas for lefties depending on their strength within the grass-roots party (which is incalculable anyway).


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#33)

by Lorin on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 05:56:36 AM GMT

So conference deciding in 2004 to renationalise the railways, do you still think were incalculable? Fact is me and jkitleft represent the views of the majority of the party, were not "Hard Left" or "Loony Left" and you assume, we dont want to change "baa baa black sheep" into "baa baa wolly sheep" we don't want to remove Thomas the Tank engine from childrens libary's because they say "black and dirty trucks" these are "loony left" positions. I say that we should keep our promices, like in the 1997 manifesto we promised to renationalise the railways, we voted to renationalise them in the 2004 conference. In the 2001 manifesto we promised not to introduce student fees, yet we did, most of the party didn't want to. As was pointed out ( don't know if it's true) that Miliband was doing McDonnell's photocopying while he was in government, just goes to show "ability".


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#34)

by Lorin on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 10:58:13 AM GMT

* as you assume


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#38)

by petercoe on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 03:51:17 PM GMT

Why is it that the left always gets into a hilarious tizz over issues that are factually incontrovertible? It really is extraordinary!

No, I don't *think* that the proportion of left-wingers in the Labour Party is incalculable - I know it is, because "left-wing" is an entirely subjective term that means different things to different people, and to which very few are likely to hold the "left-wing" position on every issue.

The fact that Trade Union block-vote barons lined up to cast their few million votes united (for once) is no measure of anything other than the fact that conference gives disproportionate (by which I mean ANY) influence to the Trades Unions.

Yet again, you are laughably arrogant to appoint yourself representative of anything: I'd advise you just to stick to claiming to speak for yourself - there would be activists the length and breadth of this country recoiling in horror at the prospect of you being their mouthpiece if anything but an unrepresentative bunch of saddos paid any attention to this website.

You also have a worrying knack of making it up as you go along. Please provide, verbatim, sourced by page, the 1997 manifesto pledge to renationalise the railways - you can't because it doesn't exist.

Ditto, tuition fees: the pledge in the 2001 manifesto not to introduce fees was for the lifetime of that parliament. Were top up fees introduced in the 2001-2005 parliament? No they were not.

And I'm afraid you're wrong again: it was not claimed that Miliband was doing McDonnell's photocopying *while he was in government* - I suspect, if true, Jonesy was likely referring to Ralph Miliband being acquainted with McDonnell during his GLC days and arranged a summer job for his teenage son David to help out there.

A far more accurate measure of ability is that David Miliband is a Secretary of State, widely influential in the government and internationally while McDonnell isn't competent enough to even get himself nominated for a position he didn't have a hope in hell of winning even if he had managed it!

Look in the mirror and see what a (collectively) hysterical joke you are - Jeffrey Archer couldn't come up with incompetent lunatics like you in his trashiest novel!


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#44)

by jkitleft on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 10:49:05 PM GMT

Labour 2001 manifesto 'We have no plans to introduce University top-up fees, and have legislated to prevent their introduction'


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#45)

by Lorin on Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 05:03:03 PM GMT

Again you have juse proved you don't know what you are talking about: In 1997 blair said about the railways" they should be run for the public, and they should stay in public ownership for the people of this country" in case you don't beleive me here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6YvtJ0drcE New Labour also said they would do so in their manifesto. Student fees were introduced before the 05' election, george galloway was still a labour mp. If you still refuse to beleive here is anothe link: http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2004-01-27&number=38&mpn=George_Galloway& mpc=Glasgow%2C+Kelvin I quote you and put it to you:Look in the mirror and see what a (collectively) hysterical joke you are - Jeffrey Archer couldn't come up with incompetent lunatics like you in his trashiest novel!


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#32)

by sianlloydwebber on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 04:33:30 AM GMT

1. What's wrong with Sadiq Khan going straight into the Cabinet: he's been a competent community worker, MP and a lawyer. I think both Blair and Brown had no council or ministerial qualifications/experience in 1997. 2. That the Cabinet is for the whole country and not a/any party is a delusion: otherwise, if Cabinet Ministers were chosen solely on (non-party) merit basis (even from within the given, limited, talent pool of MPs), it should have been on a cross-party basis!!! For, what you say implies that each and every Cabinet Minister has no match in the whole parliament. Absurd.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#35)

by jkitleft on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 11:37:03 AM GMT

he'sfrom the constituency next door to mine. He's brilliant, compassionate, and a dedicated MP. he should definitely be in the cabinet one day, the sooner the better. He's not one of the rebels that people seem to think he is, or that he is 'loony left', I think he's only rebelled against the 90 days detention, mainly because he has legal objections, due to the fact that he was also a brilliant, compassionate and dedicated lawyer, with the upmost respect of Human Rights. So the sooner we can show him off in our cabinet, the better.


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#39)

by petercoe on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 03:58:20 PM GMT

Hang on a minute - this isn't about Sadiq Khan's brilliance or otherwise: it's about the absurd suggestion that a backbench MP with no experience of government power - local or national - should be elevated to the cabinet in one fell swoop. I could have picked any number of similar cases from AWB's list - Andrew Slaughter for instance (though at least he ran the council he served on).

This isn't about individuals' ability or lack thereof: it's simply about the sanity of someone who suggests such inexperienced parliamentarians as cabinet members - you may as well include Bob Geldof as International Development Secretary, Stephen Hawking as Education Secretary and JK Rowling as Minister for Magic (in fact all three of those would be far more experienced in their fields than AWB's suggestions).

If you refuse to acknowledge that AWB's list is absurd on those grounds alone simply to show solidarity with one of your wackier comrades then so be it - but you'll lose even more credibility in the process jkit.

What's your constituency, incidentally?


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#42)

by jkitleft on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 10:44:50 PM GMT

Mithcam and Morden, Siobahn Mcdonagh. Incidentally I don't think much of a campaign group cabinet (primarily, what are you going to do with the other 80 government posts?)


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#43)

by jkitleft on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 10:45:15 PM GMT

'Mitcham'


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#20)

by jonesythered on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 05:42:02 PM GMT

David Miliband's first break in politics was doing John McDonnell's photocopying. No joke.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#23)

by jkitleft on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 07:10:47 PM GMT

are you saying I admire the 'hard-left'? you're wrong.


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#30)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:10:14 PM GMT

No, what I actually wrote was that you admired certain members of the hard left. Is that incorrect? Would you not have voted for McDonnell if he'd been competent enough to get himself nominated?

If there is no-one on the hard left of the Labour Party you admire, then I withdraw my assertion unreservedly.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#36)

by jkitleft on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 11:40:12 AM GMT

I don't admire the hard-left. I have certain objections to some people on the hard left. I called for Mcd to get on the ballot, because it would then give the Labour Party a chance to elect their leader. i respect some Hard-Left politicians, I respect Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone (whichever wing of the party he represents now) and others. I don't respect Dennis Skinner and many others


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#37)

by Lorin on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 11:57:19 AM GMT

I don't think Livingstone can be called "hard left" , I don't think Tony can either. They represent party policy. Livingstone is much less left wing now compared to the time he was head of the GLC. The government has made life hard for Ken, privatising the Underground and the Buses, now Ken gets blaimed for high ticket prices, yet he is doing all he can to make them cheaper.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#41)

by petercoe on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 04:00:21 PM GMT

What's he doing to make them cheaper - other than increasing them by inflation-busting amounts? Oh wait, that's not making them cheaper is it!


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#40)

by petercoe on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 03:59:06 PM GMT

Well then we're in agreement about what I wrote then, aren't we?


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#27)

by HOWLERMONKEY on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 08:11:33 PM GMT

"Miliband has more ability than...well, I was going to say the entire Campaign Group put together," and he's still useless.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#15)

by swatantra on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:46:33 PM GMT

Whats merit got to do with it; its who you know that matters at Cabinet level.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#14)

by swatantra on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 03:44:59 PM GMT

I'd have made a Secretary for the Regions, combined with the Deputy PM post. I'm not too sure NI Scotland and Wales would want to be relegated and lumped in with local government. Besides, we've got to geve the DPM something to do, and we have to push through Regional government once again


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#19)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 05:39:36 PM GMT

Why do we have to push through regional government? Hardly anyone wants it. Wales and Scotland are hardly relegated - they've got their own parliaments which is why they don't need their own secretaries of state any more.

However, as for ideas for what Jack Straw could do, how about Secretary of State for England?


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#22)

by swatantra on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 06:23:43 PM GMT

Because its the right thing to do, to devolve power to the regions; it means more accountability at a local level. Forget the influence of Westminster. Its worked in NI, Scotland, Wales and London. Now it has to be taken to the SW, Cornwall, to the NE, Durham, and NW, Cumbria. Sometimes the people don't know whats good for them. But we have to keep trying.


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Re: fantasy cabinet (#31)

by petercoe on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 10:15:17 PM GMT

You are breathtakingly arrogant sometimes, Swatantra. First you tell us that everyone must be made to vote, now you announce that the people must have forms of government imposed upon them because you know better than they what's right for them.

You're in the wrong party (and perhaps the wrong country) - you're not a democrat at all. President Putin would be proud of you: it seems he isn't the only "true democrat" left - there are at least two of you.

Devolution is a good thing - but not to regions. England is a country of shires not regions: let's implement a single tier of local government, establish it and then determine if another, strategic, layer of bureaucracy is needed and wanted by the public.


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#3)

by Glass House on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 06:15:47 PM GMT

You've got to be kidding about Blears at Defense. And I wouldn't be so quite to dump Hutton - he's proved he's willing to tackle a difficult issue at W&P.

Apart from that, a fine list.


Re: fantasy cabinet (#4)

by petercoe on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 08:07:17 PM GMT

Last bastion and all that - she deserves to be kept in the cabinet and let's find an appropriate place for her feistiness - the MoD needs someone who'll stand up for their interests in a government led by a Chancellor who's been less than supportive of the Armed Services.

Of course, she won't be able to emulate Thatcher in a tank - she wouldn't appear above the turret!

Not averse to retaining Hutton - just think new blood's more important and there's no love lost between him and Brown so I suspect he's out.

Wanted to find a spot for Jim Murphy (and possibly Phil Woolas too) but no more spots without massive reorganisation.

Not entirely convinced that Ruth Kelly deserves the boot either - I don't think being devoutly Roman Catholic should be a bar to public service (and let's remember Roman Catholics are a sizeable chunk of Labour's base and that we don't really need to be antagonising the Bishops further at the moment). I've not been impressed with her cabinet record, but she was a strong junior minister - maybe Brown needs to retain Blair's revolving doors policy?


[ Parent ]

Re: fantasy cabinet (#46)

by fluffymike on Fri Jun 22, 2007 at 05:17:35 PM GMT

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State: Peter Hain
Chancellor of the Exchequer: John McDonnell
Leader of the House of Commons: Harriet Harman
Foreign Secretary: Hilary Benn
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: Gwyn Prosser
Home Secretary: Alan Simpson
Secretary of State for Health:  Yvette X
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport: Derek Wyatt
Secretary of State for Devolved Government and Communities*:  Tony Blair :-)
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council: Baroness Amos
Lord Chancellor: Baroness Scotland
Secretary of State for Justice: Bob Marshall-Andrews
Secretary of State for International Development: Diane Abbot
Secretary of State for Education and Skills: Caroline Flint
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Jon Cruddas
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Michael Meacher
Secretary of State for Defence: Jim Murphy
Secretary of State for Transport: David Milliband
Party Chairman (in cabinet without portfolio): Hazel Blears
Chief Whip: Jonathon Shaw


Let's see how that lot get on!


[ Parent ]

Fantasy Cabinet | 46 comments (46 topical)