Roland Watson caused a minor stir last week by suggesting in the Times that David Miliband will soon return to the Labour frontbench. Few Progress members will be disappointed to hear this. But, as the article went on to ask, where in the cabinet to put such a big beast? He has already been foreign secretary and Douglas Alexander is, of course, a close friend of Ed. We have already switched our shadow chancellor once since the election and the Tories hate having to deal with Ed Balls on the economy. Home secretary is hardly a natural fit and making him election coordinator only delays the decision. In the end Watson left his own question unanswered.
The right job for Miliband is actually blindingly obvious: secretary of state for communities and local government.
Surely not! David Miliband, former foreign secretary, in a department currently inhabited by Eric Pickles? Hasn’t he already done that job too? And, besides, isn’t CLG just a bit, well, minor? It would, in fact, be the ideal appointment for three reasons.
First, it is a job that the older Miliband is, and always has been, passionate about. He was advocating double devolution back in 2006 and has made the case for localism in supporting urban economies, renewing communities and driving the green agenda. He also points out that being localist is a fundamental part of what it means to be Labour. Clause IV commits all party members to put power, as well as wealth and opportunity, in the hands of the many not the few.
Second, devolution should be, and likely will be, a central plank of the next Labour programme for government, making CLG a key department. Poor public transport and infrastructure, lack of housebuilding, lacklustre social care provision and the confusion over school accountability can all in part be traced back to a disempowered and badly organised system of local government. A real consensus seems to be forming on the left about this. By my count there wasn’t a single chapter of The Purple Book which didn’t call for more localism. Without it, a future Labour government will have to go on pretending that social ills come in discrete lumps which fit neatly within departmental boundaries rather than interrelated tangles situated in particular localities. It will also have to continue doing things to and for people from Westminster rather than with them in communities. Who better to take this on than an experienced operator who is already familiar with the relevant department and the tricky politics of the issue?
Third, and perhaps most importantly, few other people are capable of pulling it off. The coalition has struggled to achieve serious decentralisation because it has been unwilling to bite the bullet and create proper, highly accountable, directly elected city-regional government in all our big cities. As a result Whitehall departments have refused to give away serious power in most cases. Miliband understands that this is a strategic precondition of serious reform, not an optional extra. Another reason that coalition efforts have born little fruit is that, in the inevitable absence of a detailed manifesto pledge, the relatively junior minister in charge of decentralisation has faced an uphill struggle persuading his senior colleagues to give up specific powers. Everybody is a localist before the election but enthusiasm soon wanes once ministers are safely ensconced in their departments, surrounded by career civil servants. Who better to make an authoritative case and secure a cross-departmental deal than a respected senior party figure and former foreign secretary?
How about it, David?
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Sam Sims is a policy researcher working in Westminster. He writes here in a personal capacity and tweets at @sam_sims_
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