Gordon has set up a National Economic Council with 19 members and 2 secretaries. It will apparently "meet frequently to coordinate economic policies across Government [since] Britain is facing a period of immense economic challenges".

What do people think about this?  Is it a PR stunt or is it expected to do useful work? If so, how?

In case it passed anybody's notice, Gordon reshuffled the Cabinet today! This is the press notice about the reshuffle:

I have no inside information, but listening to commentary I have yet to hear any reference to the European Parliamentary elections next year in the context of Peter Mandelson's return to Cabinet.

Knee-jerk reactions from the left of the Party are not helpful. We have to retain the confidence of business if we are to get the economy growing again.

How can we possibly present a coherent message when our cabinet presents such a contradictory message?

Kind of a self-explanatory question. Who do you like? Why?

Today a good part of the Westminster village decamped to Birmingham.  Cabinet members did clever photoshoots with local community groups.  Journalists looked snooty and searched in vain for somewhere to sell them overpriced coffee.  I really, really liked it.

After some good honesty from Alistair, I am hoping that we return to some straight forward economic theory and practice.  We need to return to our core supporters and help those from working families, pensioners and the poorest in society.  Lets start with a windfall tax!!

John Wiseman
PPC Westmorland and Lonsdale

What do readers think about this interview in The Guardian with the usually-reticent Alistair Darling?

A real humdinger of a David Miliband/John Humphrys interview yesterday on Today, which for me made David Miliband international viewpoint rather clearer. In short my take from that is that David Miliband is firmly and clearly keeping the UK on the U.S. pillion seat.

With uncertainty over Thursday's election results - which won't be clear until Friday afternoon - the Westminster bubble if abuzz with speculation of a reshuffle, possibly as soon as the weekend.

Harriet Harman performed well at both jokes and content at PMQs today, standing in for Gordon who is at a NATO summit trying to figure out what can still be done in Afghanistan. Both Iain Dale and Kevin Maguire thought Harriet won the occasion.

The BBC is claiming on Nick Robinson's blog, Today and The Daily Politics that back in November Alistair Darling agreed in the commons with Jim Cousins that the nationalisation of Northern Rock would bring terrible effects. Jim Cousins made a complex two part question, and I think the BBC has misunderstood Darling's two part answer. Listen to the question - what do you think?

With the atmosphere in Westminster being highly-charged and tense as it is, I'd like to know what the grassroots think about having non-MPs serve in the cabinet. What do we think of a US-styled structure, where only those who have earned the President's trust and respect are allowed into the Cabinet, and elected representatives focus on representing their constituents to the best of their abilities? We already have respectable members of society elevated to the Lords (eg Lords West and Brown recently), but what about an entire cabinet comprised of non-politicians?

Mark Malloch-Brown, former head of UN Development Program, and Deputy to Kofi Annan, is being made Lord and cabinet attending, presumably based in FCO. So non Labour person attending cabinet. What do people think? For me seems good to bring in people with relevant experience. Was at last Tory conference, but presumably oficially neutral.

As many may have seen today, Harman has denied the comments she made about Iraq on the Newsnight Debate. I think like many people, in that Harman made these comments for support in the contest. Is there an element of truth in that she had doubts about going to war? And, just out of curiosity, who were the cabinet members hostile to going to war at the time (other than Cook or Short)?

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?