Same Old, Same Old.

Now that the dust is settling after a hectic 24 hours in Westminster, the shape of the new cabinet is clear. Rather than a brave new world in which the Prime Minister forges ahead as a strong leader, the country has been left wondering what has changed.

There are two obvious reasons for the new (old) look cabinet:

• Gordon Brown has either embraced the status quo, keeping most of the ministers in their original departments, for the sake of consistency.
• Or he has no choice left. The ministers have wrestled the power from the Prime Minister and are now calling the shots.

Furthermore, Mr Brown has attempted to gloss over is impudence by attempting to distract everyone with some left field appointments; Lord Sugar (Lord help us more like) and Glenys Kinnock (this appointment no one saw coming). These "celebrity" appointments have shown that the talent in the current PLP either do not want to work in Gordon Brown's Government or simply just does not exist.

Hopefully the Prime Minister avoided the temptation to call Susan Boyle and Davina McCall...

The New (Old?) Cabinet

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown

Leader of the Commons: Harriet Harman

First secretary of state: Lord Mandelson

Chancellor of the exchequer: Alistair Darling

Foreign secretary: David Miliband

Justice secretary: Jack Straw

Home secretary: Alan Johnson

Environment, food and rural affairs secretary: Hilary Benn

International development secretary: Douglas Alexander

Communities and local government secretary: John Denham

Children, schools and families secretary: Ed Balls

Energy and climate change secretary: Ed Miliband

Health secretary: Andy Burnham

Northern Ireland secretary: Shaun Woodward

Leader of the Lords: Lord Royall of Blaisdon

Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Olympics and paymaster general: Tessa Jowell

Scotland secretary: Jim Murphy

Work and pensions secretary: Yvette Cooper

Chief secretary to the Treasury: Liam Byrne

Wales secretary: Peter Hain

Defence secretary: Bob Ainsworth

Transport secretary: Lord Adonis

Culture, media and sport secretary: Ben Bradshaw