BRITAIN: British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair won a victory of sorts last night when former Health Secretary Mr Alan Milburn finally agreed to return to cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster writes Frank Millar.
As a minister-without-portfolio Mr Milburn will assume a key strategy and policy role in the preparation of Labour's general election campaign.
The announcement ended a day of mounting embarrassment which saw Mr Blair's long-predicted-and-delayed cabinet reshuffle again reduced to a state of flux as Mr Milburn reportedly sought assurances that he would carry Mr Blair's authority in any election planning or policy disputes with Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Only one other cabinet change was announced, with Higher Education Minister Mr Alan Johnson promoted to replace Mr Andrew Smith as Works and Pensions Secretary. Yet by last night these limited changes had come close to representing a test of Mr Blair's authority.
Mr Smith resigned his post on Monday evening after what other allies of Mr Brown claimed had been a sustained briefing campaign against him from within the government. Mr Blair insisted he had tried to persuade Mr Smith to stay.
However he inadvertently fuelled the impression of another power struggle between Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street on Tuesday when he replied to a question by asserting that the Chancellor did not have "a veto" over who served in his government.
On the heels of that assertion the embattled party chairman Mr Ian McCartney - previously tipped to make way for the ultra Blairite Mr Milburn - had come out fighting for his post yesterday, attacking "unacceptable" anonymous critics and insisting he was still the man for the job.
With speculation rife that the chancellor and the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, had joined forces to protect Mr McCartney, failure to find an alternative key role for Mr Milburn would inevitably have been interpreted by the media and by his internal party critics as a damaging defeat for Mr Blair.
Blairite sources had insisted the prime minister had never intended to demote Mr McCartney, with some even suggesting the rumours were fed by the chancellor's camp to undermine Mr Blair.
However, with it widely known that Mr Milburn was his choice for a key role in preparation for the general election expected next summer, Mr Blair could not be seen to have his wishes thwarted.
And Mr Milburn's acceptance of his new post last night, coupled with the promotion of Mr Johnson, gave the sense of increased Blairite influence at the heart of the government an initial gloss.
But the indications were that it would not last long. With Mr Milburn and the chancellor having previously clashed over the government's controversial Foundations Hospitals policy, the question being asked at Westminster was whether Mr Milburn's political comeback would open a new personality faultline at the heart of New Labour.
Mr Prescott, meanwhile, attempted to divert attention from the government's internal tensions with an attack on Conservative leader Mr Michael Howard, who last night confirmed the return of twice defeated leadership candidate Mr John Redwood to the shadow cabinet. Mr Prescott charged that the Conservatives were "more extreme than ever".