The really important bit of the Lib Dem reshuffle

In the various bits of coverage I’ve seen of yesterday’s Liberal Democrat reshuffle there is one particular element that hasn’t received much comment. The press didn’t really talk about this appointment, although the handy round up from Liberal Democrat Voice shows just how confused the press was about the whole thing, and the various comments from members focused on other issues. Which suggests that its importance is being overlooked.

My view is that the most significant appointment of the reshuffle will prove to be this one;

“Lord Wallace of Tankerness, former Deputy First Minister of Scotland, has been appointed to advise on the party’s engagement with senior civil servants.”

Sounds rather dry, doesn’t it. I think not.

OK, I could be barking up the wrong tree here, but what this suggests to me is that Jim Wallace is being brought in to help prepare the Party for the possible consequences of a hung parliament. This could potentially give him a huge amount of behind the scenes influence. This, by the way, is a good thing.

This content was originally posted on my old Process Guy blog.