Last week the Telegraph published its list of the 50 most influential supporters of the new Tory party, both inside and outside of parliament. I thought it would be a good idea to look at the movers and shakers on the left of British politics.
How this list will change over time as people fall in and out of favour with the Dear Leader is unknown. It is also unknown how political events will shape the list; a reshuffle could severally change the shape of the Cabinet, also if Labours woes continue we could see a flood of special advisors leave number 10.
Tell me if you agree with this list, if you don’t tell me who you would include or exclude and where you would place them on the list.
1) Gordon Brown, Prime Minister
2) David Miliband, Foreign Secretary
3) Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families
4) Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice
5) Deborah Mattinson, Managing Director, Opinion Leader Research
6) Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development & Labour General Election Coordinator
7) Harriet Harman, Leader of the House of Commons & Minister for Women and Equality
8 Derek Simpson, Joint General Secretary, Unite
9) Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary
10) Jeremy Heywood, Permanent Secretary No.10 Downing Street
11) Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health
12) Geoff Hoon, Chief Whip
13) Sue Nye, Director of Government Relations, No.10 Downing Street
14) Ed Miliband, Minister for the Cabinet Office and General Election Co-ordinator
15) Damian McBride, Special Advisor for Communications, No.10 Downing Street
16) Wilf Stevenson, Director, The Smith Institute
17) Polly Toynbee, Columnist, The Guardian
18) Lord Paul, Labour Party Donor
19) Trevor Phillips, Chair, Commission for Equality & Human Rights
20) Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
21) John Kampfner, Editor, The New Statesman
22) Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary, Unite
23) Andrew Rawnsley, Chief Political Commentator and Associate Editor, The Observer
24) Dan Corry, Head of the No.10 Policy Unit
25) Lord Adonis, Minister of State for Schools
26 James Purnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
27) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Columnist, The Independent
28) Baroness Shriti Vadera, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for International Development
29)Wendy Alexander, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
30) Kevin Maguire, Associate Editor, The Mirror
31) Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer
32) Andy Burnham, Secretary of State Culture, Media and Sport Secretary
33) Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian
34) Peter Tatchell, Human Rights Campaign
35) Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham
36) Frank Field, Labour MP for Birkenhead
37) Simon McDonald, Head of Foreign and Defence Policy, No.10 Downing Street
38) Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government
39) David Mui, Director of Political Strategy, No.10 Downing Street
40) Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, Public & Commercial Services Union
41) Lord Giddens, Labour Peer & academic
42) Sian Berry, Green Party Principal Speaker & London mayoral candidate
43) Geoffrey Robinson, New Statesman Proprietor & Labour MP for Coventry North West
44) Jonathan Freedland, Columnist, The Guardian
45) George Monbiot, Environmental campaigner and writer
46) Shami Chakrabarti, Director, Liberty
47) Nick Cohen, Author & Columnist for The Observer
48) Claire Fox, Director, Institute of Ideas
49) Stephen Twigg, Chair of Progress & Director of the Foreign Policy Centre
50) Tony Benn, Former Cabinet Minister
May 16th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
50 people who re destroying our society.
Anyway, where’s Ken?
May 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Shami Chakrabarti is to the Labour Party what Margaret Thatcher was to Arthur Scargill.
If Polly Toynbee is the 17th most influential Labourite, the Tories are going to have a long innings.
I see Kevin Maguire comes in at number 30. Both of the people who buy his paper are too stupid to find the polling station, so I can’t see what influence he has.
And if you need to include a brontosaurus like Tony Benn, whose views are 4 miles to the left of anyone in government, you must have struggled to get to 50.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Alistair Darling may not be the greatest Chancellor in history but he is not 24 places below Harriet Harman. Whose resignation would rock the government most at this particular juncture?
Where is Stephen Carter?
And why is Kevin Maguire rated more influential than the editor who appointed him, Richard Wallace?
I could go on…
May 17th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Why is Yasmin Alibhai Brown more influential than several cabinet ministers? How does that work? She is increasingly irrelevant but she is listed here as number 27, above Alistair Darling and Jon Cruddas!!
27) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Columnist, The Independent
June 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Are we allowed to include dead people?
I would place Stalin at the top,as Brown seems to be a great admirer of his methods. Also, George Orwell would be near the top. He gets there by default, as his dire warnings have been taken, not as warnings, but as instructions by this dreadful crop of marxist lawyers, champagne socialists and class warriors that are destroying our country.