1 Year of Praise for Lib Dem Ministers: Strengths of Lib Dem Ministers in 1 year of being in Government

Following on from 1 Year of Praise for the Lib Dems: Strengths of the Lib Dems in 1 year of being in Coalition and 1 Year of Praise for Nick Clegg: His strengths and achievements in 1 year of being Deputy PM we now look at the strengths of the Lib Dem Ministers according to the mainstream media over the past year. While I have not tried to systematically collect information which would give a more accurate picture of the praise of Lib Dem Ministers of the last year it gives a good overall picture.

I have split this up into the Lib Dem Ministers of Vince Cable, Chris Huhne, Others and also included Ken Clarke as he has been considered a 6th Lib Dem minister by many. However, I will start with this:

The Observer reports that officials across government agree that Lib Dem junior ministers work harder and better than their Conservative colleagues. Perhaps they have more to prove or it is down to their experience in local government. Whatever the reasons, they have put in surprisingly impressive performances (see here)

Vince Cable

The Guardian praises Vince Cable’s speech at Conference saying he finally made a dramatic return both to the limelight and to top form with political substance sending delegates home not just as a party of government but also as a party of progressive radicals (see here).

The Guardian praises Vince Cable saying he understands the value of adult education for those, like his parents, who need it most. He remains the person best placed to ensure that such provision no longer has to survive only on hope (see here).

Ken Clarke

The Guardian praises Ken Clarke for the most liberal approach to justice in about two decades (see here).

The Guardian praise Ken Clarke for his message that prison doesn’t work and there should be fewer people locked up for minor crimes rebuking Labour home secretaries who shamelessly pursued punishment populism (see here)

Chris Huhne

The Ecologist found signs that this government may really be serious about its green agenda saying that Chris Huhne is a serious and intelligent politician who is showing encouraging signs of knowing how to maneuvre and fight to get what his department wants (see here).

The Telegraph write Mr Huhne is undoubtedly one of the Cabinet’s big beasts, and one of the best Lib Dem operators (see here).

The Daily Telegraph writes Chris Huhne has achieved more in a year than most top politicians manage in a lifetime saying that Huhne’s commitment, competence and sheer cussed combativeness has won wide respect for his nerve under fire (see here).

The Independent writes Chris Huhne has proved himself a tenacious fighter in the bureaucratic jungle of coalition politics, for such an important cause (see here).

Others

The Daily Telegraph believes Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is proving adept at using his internal leverage to shift Coalition policy in favour of the Lib Dems (see here).