Taken from The Crisis Facing Conservatism by Harry Banham (2005)
The Shadow Cabinet announcements by Ken Clarke, a few days after he had been announced leader, had contained little surprises for the top-level positions while having varying levels of that emotion for other positions of the Shadow Cabinet with some of the public being surprised by the choice of John Redwood as the Shadow Chancellor when the two had very public differences on policy. This was something that would only become more noticeable when the issue of the Euro, minimum wage, Conservative stance of the New Labour reforms on things such as homosexuality and Devolution being a key difference as the issue would become a large divide between leader and party in a short amount of time.
The Shadow Cabinet, as it was, had been structured as this:-
Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke MP — Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party
Rt. Hon. John Redwood MP — Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Rt. Hon. Sir George Young Bt MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Rt. Hon. Michael Howard QC MP — Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department
Rt. Hon. Lord Douglas Hurd PC — Chairman of the Conservative Party
Rt. Hon. Alastair Goodlad MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment
Rt. Hon. Gillian Shephard MP — Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Rt. Hon. Viscount Cranborne PC — Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Rt. Hon. Peter Lilley MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Rt. Hon. Michael Heseltine MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Rt. Hon. Ann Windecombe MP — Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Rt. Hon. Michael Ancram QC MP — Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, including Scotland and Wales
Rt. Hon. David Curry MP — Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Rt. Hon. Francis Maude MP — Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Rt. Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory MP — Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Rt. Hon. Edward Leigh MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Rt. Hon. Andrew Mackay MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rt. Hon John Maples MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Rt. Hon. Alan Duncan MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security
Rt. Hon. Stephen Dorrell MP — Opposition Chief Whip
Rt. Hon. Lord Strathclyde PC — Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords
Some of the more unwise position choices had been down to the large drop in potential candidates for high positions had lost their seats in the Labour landslide which had meant that positions may have been given based on their loyalty, Clarke's need to appease the right and leadership rivals and to show the more outspoken Hague supporters that Hague's absence was one of his own choice, as he had adopted Alan Duncan, a lieutenant of Hague during the leadership election as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security. Hague did, in fact, decline a position in the Shadow Cabinet to try and convince Michael Howard to forgive him for leaving him to be humiliated in the leadership election and to slowly let himself be swayed by the modernising forces in the Conservative Party who had lost out in their seats.
Hague's choice to go on a journey to 'find himself' was one that gained suspicion from the traditionalist, One-Nation faction of the party who thought that Hague was just trying to rebuild favour in the party and then get rid of Clarke when it suited his needs which was not helped by pictures of him, Michael Portillo and Michael Howard discussing how to assist the NO side of the Welsh Assembly Referendum, something that seemed to minor to have them meet so publicly.
If Ken Clarke had even suspected something, which was more falling into the madness of his fellow 'Old Tories', then he did not show it as he was already facing complaints for his perceived lack of action over the referendum on devolution for the Welsh, which was hard when your heart is not into the matter after much campaigning on the issue only to be subjected to being barraged by complaints that you're being too right wing or too left wing about matters. The result had been a narrow victory for the YES campaign, something that was blamed on Ken Clarke again, even when evidence showed that John Redwood had a more negative rating then Ken Clarke, who was popular with the public.
This was a sign of what was to come for Ken Clarke's leadership.
The Shadow Cabinet announcements by Ken Clarke, a few days after he had been announced leader, had contained little surprises for the top-level positions while having varying levels of that emotion for other positions of the Shadow Cabinet with some of the public being surprised by the choice of John Redwood as the Shadow Chancellor when the two had very public differences on policy. This was something that would only become more noticeable when the issue of the Euro, minimum wage, Conservative stance of the New Labour reforms on things such as homosexuality and Devolution being a key difference as the issue would become a large divide between leader and party in a short amount of time.
The Shadow Cabinet, as it was, had been structured as this:-
Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke MP — Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party
Rt. Hon. John Redwood MP — Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Rt. Hon. Sir George Young Bt MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Rt. Hon. Michael Howard QC MP — Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department
Rt. Hon. Lord Douglas Hurd PC — Chairman of the Conservative Party
Rt. Hon. Alastair Goodlad MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment
Rt. Hon. Gillian Shephard MP — Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Rt. Hon. Viscount Cranborne PC — Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Rt. Hon. Peter Lilley MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Rt. Hon. Michael Heseltine MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Rt. Hon. Ann Windecombe MP — Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Rt. Hon. Michael Ancram QC MP — Constitutional Affairs Spokesman, including Scotland and Wales
Rt. Hon. David Curry MP — Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Rt. Hon. Francis Maude MP — Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Rt. Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory MP — Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Rt. Hon. Edward Leigh MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Rt. Hon. Andrew Mackay MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rt. Hon John Maples MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Rt. Hon. Alan Duncan MP — Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security
Rt. Hon. Stephen Dorrell MP — Opposition Chief Whip
Rt. Hon. Lord Strathclyde PC — Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords
Some of the more unwise position choices had been down to the large drop in potential candidates for high positions had lost their seats in the Labour landslide which had meant that positions may have been given based on their loyalty, Clarke's need to appease the right and leadership rivals and to show the more outspoken Hague supporters that Hague's absence was one of his own choice, as he had adopted Alan Duncan, a lieutenant of Hague during the leadership election as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security. Hague did, in fact, decline a position in the Shadow Cabinet to try and convince Michael Howard to forgive him for leaving him to be humiliated in the leadership election and to slowly let himself be swayed by the modernising forces in the Conservative Party who had lost out in their seats.
Hague's choice to go on a journey to 'find himself' was one that gained suspicion from the traditionalist, One-Nation faction of the party who thought that Hague was just trying to rebuild favour in the party and then get rid of Clarke when it suited his needs which was not helped by pictures of him, Michael Portillo and Michael Howard discussing how to assist the NO side of the Welsh Assembly Referendum, something that seemed to minor to have them meet so publicly.
If Ken Clarke had even suspected something, which was more falling into the madness of his fellow 'Old Tories', then he did not show it as he was already facing complaints for his perceived lack of action over the referendum on devolution for the Welsh, which was hard when your heart is not into the matter after much campaigning on the issue only to be subjected to being barraged by complaints that you're being too right wing or too left wing about matters. The result had been a narrow victory for the YES campaign, something that was blamed on Ken Clarke again, even when evidence showed that John Redwood had a more negative rating then Ken Clarke, who was popular with the public.
This was a sign of what was to come for Ken Clarke's leadership.