The Aftermath

The polls closed at 10pm. Some County Council counts began immediately. Most start this morning. Results can be followed on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2009/election_09/default.stm

The Reshuffle within the Government is now underway - up to date coverage is available at

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/default.stm

Sky News: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Politics

Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

10 Downing Street: http://www.number10.gov.uk/

All Change in the House of Lords

I'm back at Westminster (I normally work there Tuesdays to Thursdays - and yesterday was spent moving my daughter to her new flat in Milton Keynes). The House of Lords has seen a number of changes.

The new Leader of the House is Baroness Royall, formerly the Chief Whip. Her deputy is one of my bosses, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (who is also Minister of State at the newly created Department for Energy and Climate Change and also DEFRA). The new Chief Whip is Lord Bassam of Brighton.

The Lords Whips Office now contains

• Lord Davies of Oldham - Deputy Chief Whip (his title is "Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeoman of the Guard")
• Lord Bach - also a junior minister in the Ministry of Justice (my other boss)
• Lord Brett (newly appointed)
• Lord Patel of Bradford (newly appointed)
• Lord Tunnicliffe
• Lord Young of Norwood Green (newly appointed)
• Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
• Baroness Thornton

There will be a number of new Peers created, including Peter Mandelson, who is the new Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

A full list of the new Government can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/hmg.cfm#Depts

What's next?

In Britain the conference season has ended. Parliament returns on Monday. The next few weeks will be busy. It may all start today. There are expectations that Gordon Brown will announce a reshuffle. Some ministers have already indicated that they want to stand down - Ruth Kelly being the most high profile. Whether, in the current climate, Brown will feel able to announce a major reshuffle - or just a few necessary changes - remains to be seen.

There is much business to be completed before the end of the 2007/09 session - (The new season is due to begin with the Queen's Speech on December 3rd). The progress on bills can be seen at

http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2133.asp

A parliamentary calendar can be found at http://services.parliament.uk/calendar/default.aspx

Expect some action in the House of Lords, particularly over the Counter Terrorism Bill and the Planning Bill - both are being considered next week (and beyond).