Brown completes reshuffle

2008-10-05 23:51

London - British Prime Minster Gordon Brown completed a government reshuffle marked by the shock return of EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson with a wide shakeup of junior ministerial positions on Sunday.

Environment Minister Phil Woolas was confirmed in the politically sensitive post of immigration minister, while Vernon Coaker was promoted within the Home Office to police minister.

Lord Adonis, closely associated with the flagship academy schools programme, made a surprise move from education to the Department for Transport.

There was no post for left-winger Jon Cruddas despite media speculation that Brown would bring him on board to stop him becoming a rallying-point for disgruntled lawmakers.

Cruddas, a critic of big business, came a close third in the party's 2007 deputy leadership election and is popular with grassroots Labour supporters.

Unexpected recall

On Friday Brown unexpectedly recalled Mandelson from Brussels to be business secretary, in a move that stunned colleagues and political commentators.

Brown said he had appointed Mandelson, long regarded as his sworn enemy, as a political heavyweight to deal with the fallout from the credit crunch.

Economists say Britain looks bound to slide into its first recession since the early 1990s.

Analysts also saw the move as a way for Brown to stifle dissent within the Cabinet from party colleagues frustrated with the government's poor public standing.

An ICM poll published in the News of The World newspaper on Sunday said more than 160 of Labour's 349 MPs would lose their Parliamentary seats if an election were held now.

- Reuters