THE OTHER RESHUFFLE

We hear a lot about coming Cabinet changes.

THE NIGHTS are drawing in, the wind is whistling round Westminster's mock-Goth- ic turrets, and MPs and journalists are set- tling down in the tearooms to their favourite game, the Cabinet reshuffle.

New Labour, they say, is beginning to look shabby after six months in power. It's time for a change. Peter Mandelson may not have made the NEC, but needs a prop- er job to keep him out of mischief. Tessa Jowell was tipped for the top but drew too heavily on a Formula One cigarette, and Frank Field's position is looking tenuous.

Only one group at the Palace won't join in the fun — the 165 Tory MPs. They couldn't care less who they face at the dis- patch box in the new year, not because they are too puritanical to place bets, but because they are absorbed in their own game. Now that William Hague looks like a serious proposition, they want to know when he will be dealing the next hand. What will happen to the Europhile bas- tards? How long will their new leader hold onto the has-beens, how soon can he pro- mote the will-bes?

As the youngest Tory leader since William Pitt, Mr Hague was quick to realise the necessity of keeping a few wrin- kled sages. But the shock of going into opposition has left these elder statesmen exhausted. One aide explained, 'Less than a year ago, they were surrounded by pri- vate secretaries, diary secretaries and chauffeurs. If they wanted advice, they could call on one of thousands of civil ser- vants. If they wanted a free dinner, they flicked through their pile of invitations.'

Now these former ministers are lucky if they get a political adviser. If they want some information they have to go to the House of Commons library, and they are being paid only half their previous salary. A couple have even taken up French lessons in the hope of persuading French water companies to take them on as direc- tors. Of course they get depressed.

Michael Howard has had one of the toughest transitions. Last spring he lost not only his office and London home, but a lead- ership campaign, and has had to watch Jack Straw take the credit for many of his achievements. His colleagues say he shines at shadow Cabinet meetings, but some friends are quietly telling him to return to the bar.

Brian Mawhinney is another who has suffered. The former Tory party chairman is still sensitive about his part in the Tories' downfall because every time Mr Hague talks about the mistakes of the old regime at shadow Cabinet meetings, Dr Mawhinney takes it as a personal slight. `He is so chippy, it's painful,' said a shad- ow minister. Tory press officers are more concerned about Dr Mawhinney's televi- sion appearances. `Mawhinney sounds so aggressive but he is soft underneath. In the new Tory party we need people who sound like pussy-cats but act like tigers,' one press officer said.

Lord Parkinson has been the most con- tentious choice. At one stage it looked as though Mr Hague regretted bringing back the retired Tory party chairman. `Things got sticky when Parkinson started criticising Hague over his idea of renaming Heathrow airport after Diana. He has that part-time feel about him. His business interests and holidays seemed to take priority,' says one Conservative Central Office insider. Mr Hague's decision to shift his office from the Commons to Smith Square was prompted in part by the need to keep a closer eye on his party chairman.

Norman Fowler is one old hand who still remembers how to play the game. Two junior shadow spokesmen, one a Eurosceptic, the other a Clarkeite, both recently praised him. `He's played a blin- der supporting Hague so completely over EMU, especially when he is such close friends with Kenneth Clarke,' said one. `It's great', said the other, `to have one of us pro-Europeans on the inside track.' But Stephen Dorrell, the shadow Education Secretary, can't seem to get it right with either side. 'He is neither a natural back- bench rebel, nor a natural front-bench thug,' said one former Cabinet minister. But he does have a family company to return to if he wants out.

The shadow Chancellor, Peter Lilley, is acknowledged as one of the cleverest men in the party, but he has tended to flounder when pitted against Gordon Brown at the dispatch box. Some backbenchers have muttered about replacing him with the bruiser John Redwood. Mr Lilley's main job seems secure, but some are questioning whether he still has the intellectual enthusi- asm for his role in charge of the post- defeat policy review.

What does seem surprising is that many of the old guard still want in. Even in Hague's camp some concede that they may not win the next general election. If there is a ten-year wait for a Tory victory, these vet- erans will be nearing their sell-by date.

First out of the trenches waving their umbrellas at Labour's guns have been the new stars of the shadow Cabinet: John Redwood, Iain Duncan Smith, Francis Maude, John Maples and David Heath- coat-Amory. Incredibly eager, they churn out press releases, write articles and rub- bish their opponents. The two double-bar- relled members of the shadow Cabinet have the added benefit of a cause to moti- vate them. Both are determined to keep Mr Hague and the nation firmly in the Eurosceptic camp. But these youngish offi- cers are also nervous. One said, `Hague seems to have an aversion to middle-aged men. He feels most comfortable with the very young and the very old.'

Back in the shadow ministerial nursery, people like Liam Fox and David Willetts are tipped for early promotion. Mr Hague has been impressed by the constitution unit, which includes Bernard Jenkin and Nigel Evans. Peter Ainsworth in the whips' office is another success story.

It is clear that Mr Hague likes a pro- active approach, and is annoyed at those who do not fill out their weekly report cards. His office knows who is tabling ques- tions, and who is keeping the government up late. The parade of shadow Cabinet members tramping the streets for the Beck- enham and Winchester by-elections was testament to this new political work ethic. The new catchword is `reconnect'. Both shadow ministers and backbenchers have been told to go round the country making contact with interest groups.

One piece of common currency is the notion that the new 1997 intake is the best for years. One said, `If the miraculous hap- pened, we could be in the Cabinet in five years' time. It is a heady thought. In govern- ment it takes years to get to the top.' But Hague is under pressure to bring on the pro- t6ges of the warring Euro-camps. 'Bill Cash is underrated, and should be made a spokesman, not least because he has a database crammed with Eurosceptic busi- nessmen,' said one shadow Cabinet minister.

All these blushing would-be brides will have, to wait a little longer. Mr Hague has a real wedding first. Lord Parkinson's pre- wedding party for every MP won't compen- sate for not being there for that 'small family affair'. So everyone is watching to see who gets an invitation.

The author is deputy comment editor of the Daily Telegraph.