Emphasis on loyalty
A few more thoughts on the reshuffle:
The full Government list has been published today, and while most attention is understandably elsewhere a few ideas have struck me.
The first is that while at cabinet level so-called 'Blairites' have been well-treated, lower down the ladder there seems to be an emphasis on loyalty.
Specifically from the 2001 generation of MPs three MPs who in September 2006 helped force Tony Blair to announce his leaving date have been promoted (Sion Simon, Kevan Jones and Chris Bryant) while two who were loyal to Blair in that crisis have been sacked (Meg Munn, although she was already in Government, and Tom Harris who signed a letter loyal to Blair). Meg Munn I understand received the call while she was on a work trip to Mexico.
Indeed Tom Harris was promoted to Government initially by Tony Blair to replace Tom Watson who had just resigned. The message to ambitious MPs is not hard to spot.
The second is that Ian Austin's departure as the Prime Minister's PPS and replacement by Jon Trickett is more significant than has been generally commented.
It is a calculated attempt to reach out to the left of the party (which has been partly stymied by Jon Cruddas's refusal to take a job on the terms offered), and Ian Austin was very influential in Downing Street's media operation: he was Damian McBride's predecessor as Brown's spinner.
The third is that the departure of Tony McNulty as Home Office Minister is significant both for the 42-days policy which he did so much to take though the Commons, but also for his new role as Employment Minister - this is clearly an issue that the Government thinks it will need a feisty Commons and media performer in the next few months.
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out.
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