Lord Adonis, the super-bright and super-polite former Labour cabinet minister, is to become the executive director of the Institute for Government, the fast-rising Whitehall thinktank. He is replacing Michael Bichard, who is to become a visiting fellow of the Institute. Bichard, a former permanent secretary and general wise owl, has put the Institute in a strong position.
The Adonis appointment probably means he will put on hold plans to write a book on the frantic three-way post-election talks between Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, talks that saw the end for the moment of the progressive Lib-Lab dream coalition.
Adonis was an enthusiast for the Lib-Lab deal, but is recognised as a clear-thinking, independent-minded character. He has experience of Whitehall as a senior policy advisor at Number 10 under Blair.
But if he decides to postpone the book, we'll instead have to rely on a fascinating film being prepared by the Nick Robinson, the BBC's political editor, who is interviewing all the main particpants for a TV special.
