Who’ll replace Huhne if he has to step aside?

One of the most active betting markets has been on the next cabinet exit. Who is going to the first one of the current 23 members to steo aside for whatever reason.

Today’s news that the Sunday Times is not resisting a police demand to hand over material it has on the Chris Huhne speeding points case does not look good for the Lib Dem energy secretary. If, indeed, charges are going to be brought then there’s a fair chance that Huhne will step aside.

Already the speculation has started on a Huhne replacement. My money would be on Ed Davey, the Kingston MP who currently works with Vince Cable.

It could be, of course, that there’s a cabinet re-shuffle before then or a vacancy occurs for whatever reason. The market could be defined that so that if more than one person joined the cabinet on the same day, as could happen with a re-shuffle, then the dead-heat rules would apply.

Mike Smithson @MikeSmithsonOGH