Lucky France

Yesterday France's new president took office having been elected by two national ballots with 85 per cent participation. Today his new Prime Minister took office and will shortly announce the reported 14 new cabinet members. The country is alive with anticipation over what will be the dramatic changes that have been forecast. There will be a full general election in June! Across the Channel in Britain after a year of indecision Tony Blair, who was re-elected in 2005 on a promise to serve a full term as PM, has finally announced he will depart on 27th June. At lunchtime today the governing Labour Party has announced that the next PM will be the Scottish Gordon Brown whose countrymen yesterday appointed Alex Salmon a Nationalist as their own First Minister. A Labour Party so cowed and controlled that 313 of its elected MPs nominated the same reportedly deeply "flawed and Stalinist" individual. Tony Blair is in the US. His Cabinet listed below are mostly on the way out or disgraced and there are none with any reputation of competence remaining (see my notes in red). Yet they will effectively be running the country for the next six weeks. The next Prime Minister is not even to be allowed to attend the crucial EU meeting in Berlin, on which read more in our post below of a couple of days ago. Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP (Mostly planning to be abroad) Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State The Rt Hon John Prescott MP (Disgraced and departing) Chancellor of the Exchequer The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP (PM Designate) Leader of the House of Commons, Lords Reform and Party Funding The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP (Disgraced over DEFRA and huge EU fine) Secretary of State for Trade and Industry The Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP (Tipped as next Chancellor and clearly bored with Post Offices in Commons today) Secretary of State for the Home Department The Rt Hon Dr John Reid MP (Departure announced and Department sundered) Secretary of State for Health The Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP (Latest Junior Doctors fiasco should have required resignation this week) Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP (No comment really necessary) Cabinet Office Minister and for Social Exclusion and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong MP Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Secretary of State for Wales The Rt Hon Peter Hain MP (Campaigning for Deputy Party Leadership) Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council The Rt Hon Baroness Amos Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor The Rt Hon Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC Secretary of State for International Development The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP (Campaigning for Deputy Party Leadership) Secretary of State for Education and Skills The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP (Campaigning for Deputy Party Leadership) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The Rt Hon John Hutton MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Rt Hon David Miliband MP Secretary of State for Defence The Rt Hon Des Browne MP Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland The Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP Minister without Portfolio The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP (Campaigning for Deputy Party Leadership) Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip The Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP Chief Secretary to the Treasury The Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP Also attending Cabinet Minister for Europe in the FCO The Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP Minister for Trade in the FCO and the DTI The Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP Lords Chief Whip and Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms The Rt Hon Lord Grocott Attorney General The Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith QC (In case Cash for Honours crops up?)