Clegg's team in line for three Cabinet jobs
Posted by Jamie at 8 58 PM on Saturday, May 8
|
THE Lib Dems could get THREE Cabinet jobs under a deal with the Tories, the News of the World can reveal.
They are likely to be offered Home Secretary, one of the key offices of state.
They could also get Chief Secretary to the Treasury (the Chancellor’s No2) and Transport. In addition there would be a string of junior posts.
Leader Nick Clegg or current Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne would be contenders for Home Secretary.
Vince Cable, their respected Treasury spokesman, would get the Treasury job while Norman Baker is well placed for the Transport job as he is currently the Lib Dem spokesman on the subject.
Senior party figures David Laws and Clegg’s chief of staff Danny Alexander are also being lined up for government posts.
Huhne in particular would want compensation for losing out on Home Secretary as he is currently Lib Dem home affairs spokesman. A Lib Dem source said: “Chris and David are both very smart guys and either could do the job.”
David Cameron hopes the seats in some of the biggest departments in Whitehall would be enough to convince Clegg’s team to agree a deal. The Tory leader will not give in to all Lib Dem policy demands, particularly on the justice system and immigration.
But the Lib Dems would be in a position of real influence around the Cabinet table for the first time since Sir Archibald Sinclair was Secretary Of State For Air between 1940 and 1945.