Since my last post, we've learned that the Culture Secretary is a cunt (please do listen again!), Some people do indeed still want to be Lib Dems, Tunisians are not the same as those other mad democracy-hating arabs, and the NHS would be far better off privatised (well, it may at least stop all those consultants playing the system by daring to work overtime). Good good!
However long a week may seem though, a day can seem even longer, and over the past 24 hours, Alan Johnson has resigned from the Shadow Cabinet (to be replaced by Ed Balls and necessitating a reshuffle), Andy Coulson has quit as David Cameron's spin doctor, and Tony Blair is again giving evidence to the Chilcot Enquiry, almost a year after his first appearance.
Alan Johnson is the biggest shock for me. Tabloid-style lurid affairs aside, I'd like to concentrate on the real issues here. Will Johnson's replacement help or hinder the opposition Labour Party?
Personally, I think that the main issue here is the realignment of power within the shadow cabinet. There was never any doubt that Mr Balls was better qualified for the Treasury portfolio than Mr Johnson - he had served under Gordon Brown's Chancellorship as his main aide and as Junior Minister, so one would have to assume that the initial appointment by Ed Miliband was a political decision in an attempt to hold more of the power (Miliband himself having studied economics, graduated from LSE and worked as Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers under Brown's chancellorship), as he did not want a strong economist competing with him.
However, this reshuffle, whilst seemingly bad news to Mr Miliband, is probably good for the Labour Party as a whole. Mr Balls is certainly a strong character, and will not be prone to some of the gaffes we had to endure from Mr Johnson. Whilst he is also a divisive character, not well liked by even some within his own party (although one would suspect he'll be reasonably well liked by the Shadow Home Secretary!) he has a strong fiscal brain and ought to provide the stiff opposition to George Osbourne that Mr Johnson could not. Let Ed Miliband deal with the business of PR and winning over the public, and Ed Balls take battle on the economic ground.
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