Appointments

  • Westminster Week: Risky business

    Tuesday

    With the PM in the crosshairs for his appointment of Peter Mandelson, MP’s discuss the appropriate course of action, laying out an appearance to the Privileges Committee on the table. It may seem a polite way to seek to understand someone’s conduct to those outside, but it counts as a sort of review of performance so far for insiders. This isn’t always convenient, and government media managers would hate having even more work to do at present.

    *

    The PM survives a vote, showing that he’s got some support in there, even if some Labour MP’s and many others just want him out. This is political opportunism. Now he’s shown an ability to dodge a bullet.

    Wednesday

    It’s a tale of two cities. The Leader of the Opposition thinks the Prime Minister has hollowed out the budget for a welfare power grab, and the Prime Minister says she bungled her own response to the Iran conflict, leaving her voters at risk. This is tough stuff.

    Parliament is prorogued.

  • For Starmer, it’s a problem all too familiar

    It’s not often brought up that Civil Servants also have their own beliefs, views, and opinions because the Service is supposed to be free of such prejudicial party politics. It’s not however considered that some people become more familiar than others, and it may have been this that prejudiced a decision to clear Peter Mandelson when he shouldn’t have been given it.

    It’s not so much an issue of the party, but it can be a result of the party’s interaction in Whitehall, for instance, and in wider government. The name recognition of some people has helped them in their careers immensely, and it’s no different for Peers and those that appear in the news media often.

    This in itself is a currency of acceptance that may have persuaded some to overlook concerns that were flagged but may have seemed out of character for Mandelson. If he did need more rigour in the vetting there is a question over why it hadn’t been raised before, or volunteered as information by someone in the Intelligence services.

    The Labour party is run by its ability to get things done with the people it’s got and the absence of Mandelson may have looked like too large a gap to leave. In the political calculations of those nearer to the action, perhaps such a denial would be too late in his career, not serve the interests of the country, and deny a stronger candidate a place in an admittedly fraught period of time.

  • Exclusive: MI6 sideline new head

    In an exclusive for Conservative News Site, the incoming head of MI6 has already been sidelined by senior staff.

    It’s due to the results of serious background checks, and a review of her criminal past.

    It’s an embarrassment for the UK’s only acknowledged overseas Intelligence and Security unit.

    It’s not yet clear why an unsuitable candidate made it so close to such an important position.

  • King appoints Navy’s new head

    General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has been named as the new First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. He takes over the Navy at a difficult time, with staffing and funding issues.

    His predecessor, Adm Sir Ben Key, stepped back due to an accusation of professional misconduct. He also did so on the backdrop of the ongoing Dover Crossings crisis.