Hiding Huhne’s leadership ambitions

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Update: Despite cries of conspiracy theory on Twitter, it appears that there is something to my suspicions about the environment secretary. The Guardian are reporting that Hiding Huhne missed today’s cabinet meeting this morning…

Over the weekend I warned David Cameron that he should be wary of Chris Huhne’s outbursts (and ignore Nick Clegg’s) because Huhne has leadership ambitions and won’t be as easily restrained as the DPM. That Chris Huhne is on maneuvers against Clegg is clear. What is less well known is that Huhne seems to have been carefully absenting himself from tricky parliamentary votes in an attempt to avoid the taint of unpopular coalition decisions.

Whilst his decision to remain in Cancun for the tuition fees vote (and who wouldn’t in December), was widely reported in the press, one other spot of avoidance wasn’t picked up by the media. Huhne was also absent for the opposition day debate on the health bill – the most senior absentee that day.

Whilst Huhne has been forced into at least one embarrassing u-turn on his own brief, he seems keen to avoid getting any votes on the record that might tarnish his reputation further ahead of a future leadership push. He’s been the leadership runner-up twice in his career. Does he think it’ll be third time lucky?

Are you aware of any other big votes or debates that Chris Huhne has dodged? If so, leave them in the comments below.