It’s been remiss of me not to post about Tony Blair’s departure and Gordon Brown’s arrival and his new cabinet. In brief:

• I am grateful to Blair for three successive election victories

• I am grateful for ten years of economic stability - there has been none of the boom and bust that was a dubious highlight of 18 years of Tory rule.

• I am delighted that peace has come at long last to Northern Ireland

There are other things that pleased me but sadly quite a few that didn’t. Number one was getting tangled up in Iraq. It struck me right from the beginning that it would be a mess. I really wish I had been proved wrong.

Many of Brown’s cabinet appointments were very predictable: Alistair Darling at the Treasury, Jack Straw at Justice again (he had been Home Secretary in Blair’s first government) and promotions for Ed Balls and the brothers Miliband came as no surprise. He still managed a few appointments out of left field: I would never have predicted Jacqui Smith becoming Home Secretary or former Tory Shaun Woodward getting Northern Ireland.

A hell of a lot has been written about Blair’s departure and Brown’s arrival virtually all of it much better than I could ahve produced. I would highly recommend reading snowflake's take on recent events. And these posts by Gert at Mad Musings of Me here here and here. For those who think there should be an election have a read of what Tom Freeman has to say.

Today’s papers have moved on to the matter of other ministerial appointments. It is very pleasing to see that Brown has, as he said he would, made a number of appointments from outside the Labour Party. The appointees do bring a wealth of outside experience.

Former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West has been appointed as a security minister at the Home Office. Sir Alan is a former chief of defence intelligence and deputy chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Consultant surgeon Professor Sir Ara Darzi becomes a health minister in the House of Lords. Shriti Vadera becomes Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for International Development. She has worked for UBS Warburg for the last 14 years. Sir Digby Jones, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, becomes minister of state for trade Sir Mark Malloch Brown, former UN deputy general secretary, who becomes a Foreign Office minister, with responsibility for Africa, Asia and the UN

The new ministers, who will be made life peers, will be expected to take the Labour whip in the Lords, but do not have to join the Labour Party. In addition, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Lord Stevens has been appointed as Brown’s senior adviser on international security issues. He is also an adviser to the Tory Party on border controls. Liberal Democrat peers Rabbi Julia Neuberger, and Lord Lester will advise on volunteering and constitutional reform respectively.

I hope that these appointments pay dividends in the coming months.