The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The department's main policy areas are:
arts and culture
broadcasting
creative industries
cultural property, heritage and the historic environment
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has overall responsibility for the business of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and its policies. Responsibilities include:
The Secretary of State for International Trade, Innovation and Skills is responsible for strategy and policy across the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS). The department's main policy areas are:
business law
consumer issues
employment relations
enterprise and business support
trade policy
higher education
further education and skills
science
innovation
The Secretary of State for International Trade is responsible for:
overall responsibility for the department, strategy and all policies
overall responsibility for the BIS budget
President of the Board of Trade
lead Cabinet minister for reducing regulatory burdens across government
acting as President of the Board of Trade
acting as lead Cabinet minister for reducing regulatory burdens across government
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has overall responsibility for the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with particular focus on:
The Secretary of State for Defence has overall responsibility for the business of the department providing strategic direction on policy, operations, acquisition and personnel matters, including:
operational strategy, including as a member of the National Security Council
defence planning, programme and resource allocation
international relations including lead for US, France and Saudi Arabia
defence exports policy, including as chair of the cross-Government Exports Working Group
The Secretary of State for Health has overall responsibility for the work of the Department of Health (DH). DH provides strategic leadership for public health, the NHS and social care in England, focused around 5 key priorities:
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has overall responsibility for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Responsibilities include:
The Chief Whip is responsible for administering the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote in Parliament as the party leadership desires.
Whips are MPs or Lords appointed by each party in Parliament to help organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business. One of their responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party members vote, and vote the way their party wants.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Main areas of responsibility include:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Secretary of State for Justice has oversight of all of Ministry of Justice business and is responsible for making improvements to the criminal justice and prison system so that it better serves the public. Other responsibilities include:
the resourcing of his department
overall strategy on criminal justice, penal policy, human rights and rehabilitation
EU and International liaison on matters pertaining to justice
He receives a salary as Lord Chancellor and is unpaid as Secretary of State for Justice.
The Brexit Secretary is responsible for the work of the Department of Exiting the European Union. The role has responsibility for:
the policy work to support the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union and to establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK
working very closely with the UK’s devolved administrations, Parliament, and a wide range of other interested parties on what the approach to those negotiations should be
conducting the negotiations in support of the Prime Minister including supporting bilateral discussions on EU exit with other European countries
leading and co-ordinating cross-government work to seize the opportunities and ensure a smooth process of exit on the best possible terms
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling public spending. He has overall responsibility for the work of the Treasury.
The Chancellor's responsibilities cover:
fiscal policy (including the presenting of the annual Budget)
monetary policy, setting inflation targets
ministerial arrangements (in his role as Second Lord of the Treasury)
The Secretary of State for International Development leads the Department for International Development (DFID) ministerial team and sets the overall strategy and direction of the department. They have final authority over all DFID business.
About
Fantasy Frontbench is a not-for-profit organisation run by a team of dedicated volunteers. Our aim is to present political information in a format that is engaging and accessible. We hope you enjoy using the tool and that it allows you to gain a better understanding of the workings of government and how MPs have voted on major issues.
If you believe any of the data featured on the website to be inaccurate, please use the data reporting form available here: www.fantasyfrontbench.com/reportdata. Please cite the data thought to be inaccurate, detail where it appears on the website and if available the correct piece of data with source. Should we find the claim to be accurate, we will amend the data as soon as we are practically able to.
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Where data has not been made available, it has been left as blank. If you have detail of any missing data, please submit it and source using the following form: www.fantasyfrontbench.com/missingdata.
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How do I report inaccurate data?
The voting history data featured for this MP is derived from www.publicwhip.org.uk. We make no representations or warranties of any kind for the accuracy of this data as set out in our Terms.
If you spot a piece of information that you believe to be inaccurate, please let us know about this so we can look into it. Please send an email to data@fantasyfrontbench.com detailing the piece of information you believe to be inaccurate, where it appears on the site and what the information should read. If possible, also provide a source for your information. If our researchers agree that the claim is correct, we will ensure we amend the inaccurate data as soon as possible.
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FAQs
Who and what decides the voting history categories?
The voting history categories and data used in Fantasy Frontbench are provided by www.theyworkforyou.com and www.publicwhip.org.uk. All the House of Commons and House of Lords debate transcripts (collectively, Hansard) dating back to 1988 are available online. Public Whip have written a programme which reads them and separates out all the records of voting. These votes (divisions as they are known in parliament) are then grouped into Policies which represent a view on a particular issue. The Policies are then interpreted by They Work For You in a way which makes them easily understandable yet is an accurate reflection of the votes that make up the Policy.
This process of grouping votes into Policies has been carried out by a mix of volunteers and researchers funded by My Society and the results have been featured on www.theyworkforyou.com and www.publicwhip.org.uk for over a decade. If you disagree with the clarity of an issue or the choice of votes that make up a Policy, you may challenge them by emailing support@theyworkforyou.com or team@publicwhip.org.uk. It is important to note that the purpose of these Policies is to act as an overview and provide an indication of the ways in which MPs have voted. As Public Whip themselves state: “Policies are intended be a tool for checking the voting behaviour of an MP or a Lord, on top of the ability to read their individual votes. They provide nothing more than a flash summary of the data, a summary which you can drill down through to get to the raw evidence.”
Some of the voting history items appear to worded in a way I feel is not entirely impartial. How do you decide on the wording for these?
The voting history item wordings and descriptions are written by our researchers based on the information featured on They Work For You and the votes that make up each policy as featured on Public Whip. Our primary aim when titling issues and writing the accompanying descriptions is for them to be as easy to understand as possible whilst remaining as impartial as possible. This means that in some cases we opt to use a term that is the product of a political party. However, only if we feel the term has gained such usage that it is now better understood than the original policy description. An example of this would be ‘bedroom tax’, although the term was coined by Labour, it is now more widely understood than the original term used to describe this, ‘under-occupancy penalty’.
How are the MP’s voting supports e.g. strongly for, calculated?
As with the voting history categories, the strength of support e.g. strongly for, attributed to issues for each MP is based on the data compiled by Public Whip and the interpretation of this data by They Work For You.
Public Whip have created a formula for calculating how strongly MPs are in favour of Policy which takes into account how they have (or have not) voted on the individual votes which relate to that Policy. Here is their explanation of how the strength of support is calculated:
“The MP's votes count towards a weighted average where the most important votes get 50 points, less important votes get 10 points, and less important votes for which the MP was absent get 2 points. In important votes the MP gets awarded the full 50 points for voting the same as the policy, no points for voting against the policy, and 25 points for not voting. In less important votes, the MP gets 10 points for voting with the policy, no points for voting against, and 1 (out of 2) if absent.”
Once the strength of support has been calculated, a label to make this figure easier to understand is applied by They Work For You. These labels are applied based on the following thresholds:
% Possible Points - Wording
< 5 - very strongly against
5 - < 15 - strongly against
15 - < 40 - moderately against
40 - < 60 - a mixture of for and against
60 - < 85 - moderately for
85 - < 95 - strongly for
>95 - very strongly for
It is important to note that an MP’s voting record is not affected by what MPs and Peers have said, only how they voted in relation to that topic in the house - i.e. "aye" or "no". In many votes, as MPs are told how to vote (“whipped”) by their party, the strength of support attributed to them may not reflect their personal view of the issue. However, since the Whip is secret, we have to assume, like the speaker, that all votes are free.
Why is there a difference between the terms used to describe voting strength on Public Whip and Fantasy Frontbench?
Fantasy Frontbench using the same terminology as www.theyworkforyou.com. You will notice that on Public Whip, there is no ‘very strongly for’ or ‘very strongly against’ category used to describe voting support. Also, that ‘ambiguously’ is termed ‘for and against’. They Work For You have created these additional ‘very’ categories to provide users with a greater insight into the strength of voting. Please see the question above ‘How are the MP’s voting supports e.g. strongly for, calculated?’ for further information at which point the voting support strengths are applied.
There seems to be some differences between the data as featured on They Work For You/Public Whip and Fantasy Frontbench. Why is this?
They Work For You and Public Whip’s researchers are constantly reviewing the data featured on the sites in an aim to ensure that it is as accurately as possible. As this is the case, we re-import the updated data into Fantasy Frontbench very regularly.This means that sometimes there may be a short window before the data is updated on Fantasy Frontbench. This should never last any longer than a couple of days. If you notice any long-standing differences in data, please report them to data@fantasyfrontbench.com.
How do I report inaccurate data?
The voting history data featured for this MP is derived from www.publicwhip.org.uk. We make no representations or warranties of any kind for the accuracy of this data as set out in our Terms.
If you spot a piece of information that you believe to be inaccurate, please let us know about this so we can look into it. Please send an email to data@fantasyfrontbench.com detailing the piece of information you believe to be inaccurate, where it appears on the site and what the information should read. If possible, also provide a source for your information. If our researchers agree that the claim is correct, we will ensure we amend the inaccurate data as soon as possible.
How do you score points?
There is no way of scoring points on Fantasy Frontbench. You can however return to your frontbench after the general election to see which of your selected ministers won their seat and how many votes they each obtained. You will also be able to follow your ministers through the next term of parliament and monitor if the way they vote on issues changes.
How is Fantasy Frontbench funded?
Fantasy Frontbench is a not-for-profit organisation run by member volunteers. The project is funded by grant money from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd.
Why are there only current MPs? Why don’t you include all parliamentary candidates?
Fantasy Frontbench features sitting MPs from the last term of parliament.
There are over 3500 parliamentary candidates running for office at the 2015 general election. There is very little data available for the vast majority of these and most do not have a voting record (as they have not served in parliament). If we were to include all candidates, a large proportion of profiles would be virtually blank, making the tool very difficult to use. That being said, over the coming weeks in the run up to the election, we hope to add a number of non-sitting parliamentary candidates. These will be selected on a combination of public profile e.g. Alex Salmond, and their predicted likelihood of winning the vote in their constituency.
Should I base who I vote for on my Fantasy Frontbench?
Fantasy Frontbench is a (hopefully) fun tool for gaining a better understanding of how Parliament operates as well as seeing how sitting MPs have voted in the last term of parliament and prior to this (if they had a seat before the last term). Rather than relying on what politicians have said or say they will do, Fantasy Frontbench allows you to see what they have done.
Although Fantasy Frontbench will hopefully assist you with determining with which politicians (and therefore parties), your views most closely align, it should be used in conjunction with a number of other tools. We recommend the following:
Are all of the politicians featured on Fantasy Frontbench standing at the general election 2015?
No, a number of MPs have announced that they will be standing down at the 2015 general election. If this is the case, it is clearly detailed on their profile card.
Can I use information from the site?
Yes, as long as you share it. Please see Data Sources for detail.
How do you handle my personal data?
All personal data is processed and stored in conjunction with the Data Protection Act 1998. Please see our Privacy Policy for further details.
The frontbench physically refers to the front row of seats in the parliament. The rows of seats are grouped by political party. The main spokespeople for the group are usually centred at the front of the group and are then known as bring on the frontbench or frontbenchers. Those people of the party sitting further back are in turn referred to as backbenchers.
The political party in Government occupies the rows on the right hand side of as seen by the Chairman, also known as Speaker of the House of Commons or the Lord Speaker. Those benches on the left hand side of the Chairman are occupied by the opposition party, and therefore is the opposition frontbench, made up of shadow ministers of the Shadow Cabinet.
Independent and minority parties sit to the side and are referred to as crossbenchers.
Instructions
Welcome to Fantasy Frontbench, please see the instructions below for tips on how to use the tool:
Selecting Politicians
You can either look at all politicians in the tool or just the ones from a specific political party or grouping e.g. Shadow Cabinet. To change the party/grouping, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the politicians selection. To see a profile card for a politician, click the next to their name or the name itself.
Adding a Politician to your Frontbench
To add a politician, click the button to the right of their name. Corresponding signs will then appear over each of the ministerial positions in your Frontbench. Simply click on the position in which you wish to put the politician to add them.
Sorting Politicians by Profile
Use these buttons to filter and sort politicians by their profile information. The gender, secondary education and university buttons filter the politicians by this information, removing those who don’t meet the criteria of your search. The age and parliamentary experience buttons are sorts which sort the list from high to low. To reverse the sort either click the again or use the above the list of politicians.
Sorting Politicians by Voting History
You can sort the politicians in the tool by they way they have voted in parliament on a wide range of issues. Click a category e.g. [insert Social screenshot] to see the voting issues contained in that category. When you click a category, you will notice that the politicians in the selection are sorted by how they have voted on that issue, from ‘For (very strongly)’ to ‘Against (very strongly)’. To reverse the sort, click the . To view an explanation of a voting issue, click the information icon to the right of it.
Electoral System
What is the cabinet?
The cabinet is a group of high-ranking government ministers selected to run the Departments of State, such as the Foreign Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence and Treasury. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Cabinet.
How are cabinets formed?
The UK is divided into 650 constituencies. Each constituency votes for a MP (Member of Parliament) who usually represents a political party in the House of Commons. It is possible, but unusual, for independent candidates to be elected in Britain. The elected MP represents everyone within their constituency, whether they voted for them or not. Although MPs win their constituency through the electorate (all those eligible to vote in their area) they are expected to show loyalty towards their political party.
What is the House of Commons?
The House of Commons, the lower house, is one of two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which meets in the Palace of Westminster. It consists of the elected body of 650 Members of Parliament. The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Commons. They are responsible for maintaining order during debate, and may punish members who break the rules. When taking up the role of Speaker, the selected politician must renounce all affiliation with his or her political party and remain strictly non-partisan throughout their tenure.
What is the House of Lords?
The House of Lords, the upper house, is one of two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It meets in the Palace of Westminster in London. Members of the House of Lords are not elected, but appointed to their roles. Two types of Lords make up the house, the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. Lords Spiritual sit in the house by virtue of the ecclesiastical role in the established Church of England. The Lords Temporal compose the rest of the membership, the majority of them being life peers who are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission. The rest are hereditary peers. Membership was once a birthright of all hereditary peers, but under the House of Lords Act 1999 the right to membership was restricted to 92 hereditary peers. The vast majority of hereditary peerages can only be inherited by males, only two of the 92 hereditary peers are currently women.
What is Parliament?
What is commonly known as the UK or British Parliament is the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the supreme legislative (mean law-making) body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories. It possesses legislative supremacy, thereby ultimate power, over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. Its head is the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II, and its seat is the Palace of Westminster in London.
This frontbench features the youngest 22 politicians who were sitting during the last term of Parliament (2010-2015). View Frontbench
Oldest Frontbench
This frontbench features the oldest 22 politicians who were sitting during the last term of Parliament (2010-2015). View Frontbench
Most Experienced Frontbench
This frontbench features those politicians who were sitting during the last term of Parliament (2010-2015) with the highest combined number of years service as MPs. View Frontbench
Shadow Cabinet
The shadow opposition cabinet comprises the 22 politicians selected by the Leader of the Opposition. Harriet Harman is currently both the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party as well as being the Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport. As this is the case, we have put Gloria de Piero in this position. . View Frontbench
Coalition Cabinet 2015
This was the latest Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Cabinet. Under the Coalition Agreement it was decided that based on the number of seats both parties received at the 2010 general election, that 16 Conservatives (not including the Prime Minister) and 5 Liberal Democrats would form the cabinet. View Frontbench
All Female Frontbench
During the last term of Parliament (2010 - 2015), there were 148 female MPs and 502 male MPs. This frontbench features only female politicians who were sitting during the last term of Parliament. Where possible, we have tried to select an equal number of MPs from each party. View Frontbench
Very Strongly For Same-sex marriage
During 2013 and 2014, a number of MPs voted very strongly for a bill (and some amendments to bills) which would make same-sex marriage permissible in the UK and for those serving in the UK armed forces overseas. This frontbench features 22 MPs from across as many parties as possible who voted very strongly for this. View Frontbench
State Educated Frontbench
These 22 politicians all attended state secondary schools of one form or another. View Frontbench
Curated Frontbenches
Alex Massie's Frontbench
Scotland Editor of The Spectator
It is to the Conservative party's lasting discredit that Ken Clarke was never given the chance to lead it. In this cabinet he is charged with managing, along with Brexit Minister Angus Robertson, the Brexit process in as harmless and seamless a manner as possible. Brexit means Brexit but Ken's Brexit will be different from that upon which Theresa May is currently embarked. Robertson, an adept negotiator and strategic thinker, is also a rare British politician who can speak German, a useful skill in these times.
Elsewhere, this is a cabinet dominated by One Nation liberal conservatives, with the addition of an Orange Book liberal at the Home Office and the best of Labour: politicians interested in what works more than in dogma.
This will, however, be a reforming cabinet with Michael Gove returned to education and Alex Salmond to lead a new industrial strategy that might actually amount to something. Stephen Crabb will put a human face to necessary welfare changes.
Most of all, however, this is a cabinet for a country that's more at ease with itself than it believes. A moderate, intelligent, decent government for a moderate, intelligent and decent people.
Boris is sent to Wales as punishment but also to provide some small measure of entertainment.
Emma Burnell's Frontbench
Political Commentator
As a Labour activist, my cabinet was always going to be largely Labour. But it's also a reflection of the talent that Labour has in its ranks that there are some great people I've had to leave out. Labour is having a terrible time of it right now, but this exercise has been strangely uplifting. We may feel a long way from power, but we have the talent to one day get there again.
But I have tried to think across parties to some extent and I think having Ken Clarke as a GOAT contributor as a liberal Justice Secretary would be strong and I think Margo James is an under-recognised talent in the Tories so I'll happily pinch her too. Leanne Wood is a bit of a wild card. I love her voice, I think she has interesting thoughts to offer - though I can't abide nationalism as a philosophy.
It's as much a cabinet I'd like to hang out with as it is a cabinet where I've tried to go beyond factionalism and think about the policy strengths of the individuals. What would I like seeing them get excited about? Who do I want in charge. Jess Phillips is one of the best arse kickers I know and Caroline Flint is tough, thoughtful and hilarious. With them as PM and Whip, we'd be laughing all the way to the lobby - or else.
Simon Hedges' Frontbench
Political Commentator
My fantasy frontbench is a good mix of the steady, the sensible and the unspeakably controversial. This is to make sure that although the country still has a safe pair of hands in charge, there is plenty of opportunity to keep parliamentary sketch and comment writers busy, hopefully also providing a boost for the dying print industry.
You can see straight away that Nick Clegg is Brexit Secretary. Multilingual Nick can secretly stop brexit at the negotiation table and charm Britain's way permanently back into the EU before anyone realises. That's if he doesn't capitulate in the first 5 minutes like he quite correctly did in the coalition.
We have several plain speaking no nonsense types who will quite happily tell it like it is and just answer the bloody question! Jess Phillips, Mike Dugher and Philip Davies especially will not care one jot if their blunt statements get the full pitchfork treatment from the twitter mob or, more likely, colleagues.
I am also not ashamed to say that I'm a firm believer in nominative determinism, which is why we have Lamb in Food and Rural Affairs and Brokenshire in Local Government.
Jacob Richardson's Frontbench
Writer, Disclaimer Magazine
As a Labour supporter my Prime Minister of choice is Clive Lewis, a favourite to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader. Lewis is a proposes a “Progressive Alliance” between left-wing parties, an idea this frontbench reflects.
An anti-austerity socialist and British Army veteran, Lewis serves as a unity candidate who would appeal to the Labour grassroots and command the respect of the Parliamentary Labour Party – and the public at large.
Yvette Cooper would stand in for Lewis at PMQs as Leader of the House of Commons. I would also appoint her as Deputy Prime Minister.
I’ve kept Corbyn on the Labour frontbench, as in the age of President Trump we need a Foreign Office that stands up for human rights and diplomacy on the global stage. Sir Keir Starmer is Brexit Secretary, as it’s hard to think of a better equipped candidate for the EU-27 negotiations than a former head of the CPS.
There are other holdovers from the current Shadow Cabinet, but also new Labour intakes. The highly qualified Mary Creagh becomes Chancellor, and humanitarian aid worker Rosena Allin-Khan is International Trade Secretary while Chuka Umunna – who has supported Tom Watson taking on the Murdoch press – heads Culture, Media and Sport.
Guido Fawkes' Frontbench
Political blogger and The Sun columnist(Created for the 2015 General Election)
Guido has gone for a dramatic change in the front bench line-up of a 7-party coalition, headed by Douglas Carswell as PM, to transition the nation towards becoming the world’s first iDemocracy. Boris would be Deputy PM just to cheer up the country, Farage goes to the Foreign Office to be in charge of their excellent wine cellar and the Brexit. Similarly Alex Salmond would be Scottish Secretary and Leanne Wood as Welsh Secretary. Their national exits from English taxpayer subsidies to be their policy priority.
Labour would have one member of the Cabinet, ex-para Dan Jarvis to Northern Ireland to take charge of negotiations with ex-provo Martin McGuinness. Priti Patel will go to the Home Office to oversee the return of capital punishment for paedophile kiddie killers. LibDem John Hemmings to Justice to open up the secret courts. Michael Gove to the MoD to oversee a more realpolitik approach to defence policy in the Middle East in particular. Sajid Javid to the Exchequer with Steve Baker as chief secretary with responsibility for monetary reform.
Ex-nurse Nadine Dorries to take charge of the NHS and become Minister for Women. Jacob Rees Mogg to Education, parliamentarian par excellence Alec Shelbrooke to be Leader of the House. Liam Fox to wind down the DfID before it is merged into the MoD. Owen Patterson back to DECC and my old friend Tim Aker to Transport. Lord Maude to oversee the slimming down of BIS following a 99% reduction in the departmental budget. Following an admittedly shoddy backroom deal the newly enobled Lord Al Murray will go to Culture.
Oscar Pearson's Frontbench
Co-founder of chatpolitics.org and Election Analyst for Sky News and the Daily Express(Created for the 2015 General Election)
2014 MP of the year Caroline Lucas leads a 10-party coalition in Oscar's frontbench for 'hard-working families'. The Green Prime Minister has fellow party colleagues Ann Duncan and Chris Ball in Enviromnent and Energy departments respectively, to fast-track critical climate change policies.
The famous faces of Jacob Rees-Mogg as deputy PM, Vince Cable as Chancellor and Ming Campbell on Business all assume top cabinet posts, but it's Minister for Culture, Media and Sport Al Murray who makes the headlines - he'll work hard to bring in the penny-a-pint policy that got him elected.
Douglas Carswell brings wisdom to the Ministry of Justice, Dennis Skinner experience as Leader of the House, and the impressive Nicola Sturgeon isn't short of patriotism as Scotland Sec - though she won't have much say in the speedy Barnett formula abolition.
Appropriate roles for Norman Baker, Stella Creasy, Leanne Wood, Andy Burnham and Norman Lamb fail to distract from the question on everyone's lips: why is Diane Abbott in Northern Ireland? George Galloway heads the Foreign Office, Harriet Harman Work and Pensions, Lynne Featherstone is Cheif Sec to the Treasury, Alan Johnson's in the Home Office, and Tim Farron leads much-needed reforms in Education.
Speaker John Bercow and lefty-legend Dennis Skinner add colour to a coalition of stability, equality and humanity.
Dick Puddlecote's Frontbench
Political Blogger(Created for the 2015 General Election)
I've gone for the genial David Davis as Prime Minister, which isn't so far-fetched because he would be if the Tories hadn't had a collective meltdown in 2005 in choosing a bedwetter as their party leader. He'd need an able sidekick, so consummate libertarian Doug Carswell fills the Deputy PM role. Two ministers stay where they are in my reshuffle, Eric Pickles for having the courage to clamp down on sock puppets in local government, and Chris Grayling for being the most prominent MP to vote against plain packs. Two Labour MPs are included, in the form of Kate Hoey who has always been uncharacteristically liberal for her party, and Simon Danczuk is Justice Secretary for his dogged work on child abuse. In the regions, ex-Labour brawler Eric Joyce is responsible for slapping some sense into Scotland, while Guto Bebb takes on the Welsh job and Ian Paisley Jr can start work on getting back the 900 jobs lostrecently in Northern Ireland thanks to stupid government interference. At health, I have Mark Pawsey to be a firm hand over the NHS and to ensure e-cigs are kept out of overweening regulation, while Nigel Farage takes Culture Media and Sport to oversee a renaissance for pubs with an amendment to the smoking ban, amongst other fun tasks. Sound as a pound Steve Baker is my Chancellor for his experience in the City, and last but not least, our esteemed mascot is, of course, Leader of the House.
Benji Hyer's Frontbench
Politics and Economics Student, University of Birmingham(Created for the 2015 General Election)
See Benji's commentary on his cabinet selections: Culture, Media and Sport Secretary – Margaret Hodge - vigorous scrutiniser as Chair of Public Accounts Committee, having previously worked as Minister of State for Culture and Tourism; Energy and Climate Change Secretary – Ed Miliband - I have admiration for Ed, and though I wouldn’t want him as Prime Minister, he’d serve well in this position, one which he held before becoming Labour leader; Transport Secretary – Boris Johnson - spent a lot of his time as London Mayor investing in new transport schemes; Business, Innovation and Skills Secretary – Vince Cable - political veteran who has been business secretary for the last five years; Prime Minister – David Cameron - shiniest of two turds, and nicely liberal minded too; Foreign Secretary – William Hague - defines diplomacy, so I was saddened when he resigned from the role last year; Defence Secretary – Kenneth Clark - zero nonsense, he’d be taken seriously by other countries, MP with an outstanding CV, pro-EU, anti-Iraq War, and was in cabinet during conclusion of Cold War; Health Secretary – Alan Johnson - one of the best Labour politicians to have graced the Commons, and was heath secretary when the NHS was thriving; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary – Caroline Lucas - because she likes trees (and she’d actually do something about humans destroying this planet); Northern Ireland Secretary – Liam Fox - deserves his place in the cabinet given his prestige; Wales Secretary – Elfyn Llwyd - would keep the Welsh happy, sustain sensible levels of devolution, and promote and more proportional voting system; Leader of the House of Lords – Sajid Javid - young, up and coming politician with a bright future, plus he had an impressive career in banking so has some knowledge of how to run an economy successfully; Communities and Local Government Secretary – Chuka Umuna - like Javid, he’s a promising (albeit annoying) fella, and likes to bang on about his local community; Scotland Secretary – Danny Alexander - a Scot himself and a renowned politician who can take credit for much of Britain’s economic advancement and has close ties to the current cabinet members, he’ll help keep the Union together, keeping tabs on the SNP; Work and Pensions Secretary – Douglas Carswell - one of the more moderate and respected members of UKIP, Carswell’s main voting base is pensioners, plus he’ll get rid of the unnecessary bureaucracy in the workplace; Justice Secretary – Sadiq Khan - current shadow justice secretary and formerly a human rights solicitor; Deputy PM – Nick Clegg - I’m actually a fan of Clegg for he has done and would adopt a sensible middle-ground, thereby adding “a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one”; Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osborne - a necessary evil, better than Balls, and provides stability, despite being a bit nasty with his economic policies; Home Secretary – Theresa May - she drives me crazy, but is at least brave enough to take unpopular yet suitable stances on security measures, plus she’s a woman; Education Secretary – John Bercow - this liberal minded Tory is the greatest Speaker in decades, he often talks about the future of politics and youth (and the poor behaviour of MPs in the Commons which puts so many teens off political engagement), plus he is Jewish; Leader of House of Commons – Michael Gove - don’t want him in charge of a department, though he is a top spokesman for the party; International Development Secretary – Jeremy Browne - highly underrated politician who has lived abroad and worked in foreign ministry.
Given their voting record, this frontbench is:
- 50/50 state/private schools and Oxbridge/non-Oxbridge graduates
- Pro austerity measures
- Happy with same sex marriages
- In favour of overseas combat, Iraq war investigation, Trident, and relationship with EU
- Against super tax for those earning over £150,000, yet support personal allowance increase
- Backing corporation tax decrease, whilst cracking down on tax avoidance
- Wishing to limit private NHS services
- Torn on the issue of tuition fees
- Wanting an elected House of Lords (though it's not my personal desire for reasons pertaining to practicality rather than democracy)
- Sadly not voting for a more proportional electoral system
- For retention of communications information, but against extreme anti-terror laws
- Pushing for climate change prevention measures
Saadia Sajid's Frontbench
Youth Voice Secretary for London - British Youth Council(Created for the 2015 General Election)
I implemented extensive emphasis on the importance of diversity of both age and 50:50 gender, as well as ethnic backgrounds – this is the only way government will be completely representative of the general electorate. It was also vital that my collection of MPs were superlative in the fields with which they have been associated, therefore justifying why Sadiq Khan is the Home Secretary. In addition to this, there is an assortment of both state and private schooled MPs alongside more of my frontbench consisting of non-Oxbridge educated MPs instead of the opposite. As you can probably tell, there is no outright majority in terms of a political party in my frontbench – this is primarily to mirror the fact that the upcoming general election is completely unpredictable. I wanted a government that was respected, trustworthy and full of potential. My attempt at enhancing the representation of different parts of the country is also evident in the choices of MPs from diverse constituencies and from all corners of the UK – you can probably tell of my advocacy for representation by now!
Dr. Andy Williamson's Frontbench
Founder of Democratise and co-author of From Arrogance to Intimacy - A Handbook for Active Democracies(Created for the 2015 General Election)
This is really, really hard. I know it's my choice but with an eye on what's happening and on the polls, I've been clear about getting over the idea of a single monolithic party governing us. Coalitions are a good thing. They mean we can draw on a wider set of skills and moderate a single over-bearing faction (or party). As the sole voter, I wanted a government that is going to be socially responsible and progressive. I wanted a government to look after people before it looks after corporations, banks and tax evaders. But people also need jobs and small businesses need support too, so I want a cabinet who understand business. I've retained a few people from the current government, promoting or, in two cases, restoring cabinet rank. They are politicians I rate highly. I've aimed for a good gender balance but the 50:50 split I achieved was more luck than intention. And it's all still a bit white and middle class but that's the point - the parliamentary chamber doesn't really look like the country it represents.
Most of my selections are based on merit. Some actually seem like a good fit for their new role based on experience. Some have proven themselves already as ministers or shadows. A few are based on people I think are competent and worth having around the table, but I couldn't quite find the right place for them. I've let the Greens loose in the top paddock so that can sort out the badgers, foxes and farmers. I've chosen a minister responsible for each devolved nation from a local party; Plaid, SNP, Alliance (that one was trickier). The principle is that they know best what their country needs but it won't be a free run, cabinet is about collective responsibility. And chucking a few foxes into the tired old hen house seemed like a good idea. Hence my choice of prime minister. This is a reward for authenticity and passion but also because she has real leadership experience. My apologies to Scotland for stealing Nicola, it was close call between her and Dennis Skinner.
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