Michael Wills as Minister of State

Anthony Barnett (London, OK): I see that Michael Wills has been  appointed as Minister of State in the Department of Constitutional Affairs. A one-time television film maker, and therefore a politician with some experience of the outer world, he is a long time supporter of Gordon Brown, frequently rumoured to have helped on his speeches on the future of Britain. Last year he published a far-reaching ippr paper on Labour and democracy called The New Agenda (register for free pdf). It calls for a constitutional convention. One of the refreshing things about his approach at the time is that he knew how bad things were and how much they needed to change.