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Chris Huhne is once again under huge political pressure this morning, and is odds on favourite to be the next exit from the Cabinet. The problems all centre around the continuing allegations that he asked his SpAd to take some speeding points for him, which is a criminal offence. As Mark Pack points out on Lib Dem Voice, there are still a lot of inconstancies in the reporting of the story, and the police are now investigating, so VN isn’t going to speculate about what has or hasn’t gone on. The question remains though, if the pressure gets too much and Huhne has to go, who can replace him (and indeed fill any other gaps that are left)?
Danny Alexander is the obvious choice to become a Secretary of State once again. Although his heavy commitments in the Treasury are causing problems for the Lib Dems, who don’t have a full time ‘enforcer’ in Government, a problem that would be worsened by being a Secretary of State, he is the logical choice. With David Laws now sidelined for a good few months more, there is no obvious figure with enough clout to replace Alexander in the Treasury. Newly married Jo Swinson is Vince Cables Parliamentary Private Secretary at the moment, and the jump to such a high profile position in Cabinet seems too great, as it does for former Business Spokesman John Thurso. Perhaps the only solution could be moving current BIS Minister Ed Davey to the Treasury, and making Swinson a minister in Cable’s department, but this seems somewhat of an over-promotion for the Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs. This shows a worrying long term issue for a party, but it is one that needs a strong short term solution in this new phase of ‘muscular liberalism’.
There could of course be a bit of a left-of-field promotion in order to not shift the Treasury team again, but it is hard to see who that would be.
One thing is for sure, if Huhne does go the Liberal Democrats will lose one of their centres of power in government, and more difficult times will lies ahead for the party.
May 22, 2011 at 11:30 am
May 26, 2011 at 6:14 am