The somewhat unbelievable promotion of Jeremy Hunt to Health – rewarding an unpopular, incompetent minister who oversaw the BSkyB bid, by moving him to an area in which the government has done huge damage, the much loved NHS meant I missed the local connection. (I’ve also been trying to find out more about the new housing minister, not encouraging as minister for construction overseeing a crisis in construction!)
However someone’s just told me that Rob Wilson, the Reading East MP, has displayed his questionable judgement by claiming that he had turned down a job in the Whips office (admittedly a thankless task given the current divided state of the Conservative party at the moment) to move with Jeremy Hunt from media to health.
He didn’t act as a check or good advisor on Hunt during his tenure as media secretary and I doubt he will at health given his very public support for the health ‘reforms’. But at least it means that people in Reading, especially in the East, will be able to put their views on the health service to someone in a position of power.
I hope he will take note of the massive public outcry there has already been on the NHS. If he doesn’t we in Reading will be able to hold him to account.
He might want to watch the speed at which the new 38degrees petition on the NHS is growing.
From now until – as Dennis Skinner said today in PMQs – Cameron does the decent thing and calls an election we will be holding both Alok Sharma and Rob Wilson to account on the damage they are doing to the economy, our health service and housing.
After that we will do all we can to make sure they are down the job centre, where their government have consigned so many of our young people.
Looking on the bright side, the reshuffle shows that Cameron's focus seems to have totally shifted away from the public and is now firmly centered on appeasing his party.
Rob Wilson was right about one thing, the doors are definitely closing on the coalition.