The departure of another minister (and her non-replacement)

The departure today of Baroness (Shriti) Vadera from her position as Parliamentary Secretary at (predictably both) the Business department and the Cabinet office has many interesting features, of which the newspapers have focussed on 'why' and 'what can it mean'.

She is yet another government minister (Malloch-Brown, Darzi) who has departed without a successor - the official statement is that her duties will be undertaken by Lord (Mervyn) Davies of Abersoch, the man who (eventually) successed Digby Jones as Trade Minister. Is this a reflection that her job in government has been concluded (seems unlikely given that she was a business minister and the economic realities haven't changed) or that no-one else wants the job?

Normally, you'd expect one reshuffle, on one day, triggered either by an event or the periodic wish of a Prime Minister to refresh government. This week, 3 months after the last reshuffle and not triggered by any forced departures, we've had two separate reshuffles, on two separate days. It's an unusually random and apparently uncoordinated approach to reshuffles - I can't think of any similar pattern to reshuffles over the last half century or so.

An unusual mini-reshuffle

Today, Margaret Hodge returned to the government in the same position she left it on October 3rd 2008 (Minister of State at Culture) and Barbara Follett (the Parliamentary Secretary who'd held the Arts portfolio for the previous year) filled the Parliamentary Secretary post at Communities, vacated by Sarah McCarthy-Fry in June.

It's unusual in that:

Hodge's departure and then return to precisely the same post is more akin to the compassionate leave you'd get in a more normal job than any other standing down from government for personal reasons I can think of. Normally, the best a minister would hope for is to return at the next available normal reshuffle to the same rank.

It appears to be at a time of Hodge's choosing. There's no other reason to hold this mini shuffle now (the vacated post having been vacant for over 3 months, no other posts involved, no imminent public policy statements requiring a new minister etc).