Thursday 28 June 2007

Happy Hain

Reports of his political death may have been premature. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007290123,00.html

Peter Hain has survived the Cabinet reshuffle - and been given a decent job as Work and Pensions Secretary.

He'll remain Secretary of State for Wales - and the Wales Office appears to have survived reports of its own demise or merger with its Scottish and Northern Ireland counterparts. He's understandably delighted after discovering last week that Paddy Ashdown had been offered his Northern Ireland job and finishing fifth in Labour's deputy leadership election.

One appointment to watch for those of us with a disproportionate fondness for Welsh angles is the new Justice Secretary - expected to be Jack Straw.

The Wales Office is currently part of the Ministry of Justice and Mr Straw is expected to get a new constitutional role.

This may ring alarm bells in Cardiff Bay as he played a pivotal role in the dawn of devolution in the first Blair Government, often frustrating demands for the Welsh Assembly to have more powers.

Watch this space.

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