The news that Gordon Brown offered Paddy Ashdown a seat in his cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary will have done nothing to settle the frayed nerves of the incumbent of that office, Peter Hain.
Peter, whose prospects of securing the deputy leadership look hopelessly remote (odds of 66/1 on politicalbetting.com), must surely be wondering what, if anything, Gordon has in store for him when he assumes the premiership in a week’s time. It is now abundantly clear that he won’t be roasting his Christmas chestnuts on the log fire at Hillsborough Castle, but what of Wales?
My guess is that Peter will be removed from the Principality as well as from the Province. If there is indeed to be a role for him in Brown’s cabinet, then International Development would appear to suit his talents, background and interests. Of course, if Gordon really wants to punish him, he may appoint him to that graveyard of political ambition, the Home Office.
And as for Wales, who other than Gordon’s old chum and former PPS, Don Touhig, who I glimpsed taking the evening air on the Commons terrace yesterday with a preoccupied-looking Rhodri Morgan?
Peter, whose prospects of securing the deputy leadership look hopelessly remote (odds of 66/1 on politicalbetting.com), must surely be wondering what, if anything, Gordon has in store for him when he assumes the premiership in a week’s time. It is now abundantly clear that he won’t be roasting his Christmas chestnuts on the log fire at Hillsborough Castle, but what of Wales?
My guess is that Peter will be removed from the Principality as well as from the Province. If there is indeed to be a role for him in Brown’s cabinet, then International Development would appear to suit his talents, background and interests. Of course, if Gordon really wants to punish him, he may appoint him to that graveyard of political ambition, the Home Office.
And as for Wales, who other than Gordon’s old chum and former PPS, Don Touhig, who I glimpsed taking the evening air on the Commons terrace yesterday with a preoccupied-looking Rhodri Morgan?
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