David Cameron would be making a "catastrophic" mistake if he were to replace George Osborne as shadow chancellor, Ken Clarke said today. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the former chancellor said that Osborne was the victim of a whispering campaign against him, but that he should remain in post. Some Tories have been speculating about Osborne being moved because opinion polls suggest that the...

George Osborne would welcome Ken Clarke the former Chancellor back into the Tory shadow Cabinet and has been actively pushing his case.

Much as I like George Osborne, it has become clear - for the reasons explained by Iain Martin - that he cannot continue as Shadow Chancellor. Iain suggests that there are two plausible replacements: William Hague and Ken Clarke. Of the two, the most attractive candidate politically would be Ken Clarke. Having brought Britain out of recession last time, Mr Cl...

So, Ken Clarke, the former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been brought back into the publicc eye as he returns as David Cameron's business spokesman to counter Peter Mandelson. The deal was sealed over lunch on Saturday between Mr Cameron, Mr Clarke and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne. Clarke, a rabid europhile, has voted against the party whip 33 times, more than any of his c...

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has described Ken Clarke as a "fantastic addition" to the Tory front bench.

Today's coverage: Tories face tough choices - and moving George Osborne is one of them - Iain Martin Sadly, George Osborne should go - Janet Daley Why we need Ken Clarke to take on Alistair Darling - Tracy Corrigan David Cameron should replace George Osborne with Ken Clarke - Alex SingletonIain Martin has been becoming noticeably increasingly incensed with the Tory's incoherency on the economy. To...

It's official. Ken Clarke is coming back to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Business Secretary. Tory sources tell me the deal was sealed at a lunch yesterday at George Osborne's London home at which David Cameron was also present and will be formally announced tomorrow. It was Osborne who had suggested the possibility of a job for Clarke to Cameron in December, and discussions between the t...

It is certainly very generous of Ken Clarke to insist that he should not be touted as a replacement for George Osborne, and to offer his unqualified support to the sitting shadow chancellor. But I suspect that his intervention arose from the belief that Mr Osborne's critics were simply a rei...

New Statesman political editor Martin Bright gives his reaction to the return of former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke to frontline politics and asks is Cameron playing catch up? David Cameron owes it all to Ken Clarke. Although it's pretty certain he doesn't see it that way, there is no doubt that Cameron won the Tory party leadership because the support of Tory centrists seeped to away fro...

George Osborne must be feeling a little uncomfortable today. After all, the speculation about his boss being about to appoint Ex-Chancellor Ken Clarke to a significant role could hardly help make Mr Osborne feel a little… unloved. After all, George saved Dave last year when he was in trouble, but Dave seems disinclined to dismiss reports that George might