Tory rising stars ready to step in after MP counts Costa
NEVER come between a man and his Mam. Alberto Costa, he never made trouble for the Government until they tried to take away his Italian parent’s protections as EU citizens after Brexit.
Loyal to his family (and three million other Europeans living in the UK) the Scots-born MP was forced to resign as David Mundell’s parliamentary private secretary to table his amendment guaranteeing citizens’ rights.
The Government did not oppose the move but by then poor Costa had been sacked, even though three cabinet Ministers were not for defying collective responsibilty on the weekend.
Life’s not fair on the lowest rung of Government as an unpaid bag carrier for Ministers, though a PPS is more than that.
One step down from being a junior Minister, the PPS is there in all the meetings, mouth shut, eyes and ears open, watching Government close up, waiting.
They know what friends and rivals in their own party are up to and what the opposing benches are up to.
Apparently Costa was good at it but with one Scot gone from the Scotland Office, there are others to take his place.
Half of the dozen Tory MPs in Scottish seats elected in 2017 are already in Government service.
Andrew Bowie is in Downing Street as a PPS and is seen every Wednesday sitting one bench behind the Prime Minister, working with her more experienced aide, Seema Kennedy, another rising star. Luke Graham is a PPS in the Cabinet Office, with one foot in the department for Local Government.
That gives credence to the Whitehall plan to distribute the post-Brexit Shared Prosperity fund, the replacement for EU funding, directly to Scottish councils, bypassing the Scottish Government. Brace for impact on that one.
Paul Masterton serves in the Home Office, to keep him out of mischief, and Kristene Hair is an apprentice at the Justice department.
Colin Clark is at the DWP, presumably to give the department some compassionate balance after the departure of Esther McVey, and Alistair Jack has become a party whip.
There is a long tradition of Scots running Westminster – Gove, Fox, Mundell and Julian Smith are in Cabinet just now.
But Ruth Davidson’s lieutenants are in position to advance when the next shake-up comes along.