Hague's musical chairs

That, in a nutshell, is the verdict Mr Hague's critics - both within his party and on the other side of the Commons - would like us all to reach in the wake of yesterday's limited exercise in Central Office musical chairs.

But it would be wrong to judge Mr Hague solely on the basis of his choice in front bench personnel. His principal task following last year's historic defeat is the rebuilding of a shattered party. With up to four years to go until the next election, and the prospect of a two-term Blair premiership, the shape of his Shadow Cabinet will do little to sway the voters.

He has spent much of the past

year pushing through an ambitious programme of reform designed to give the rank and file a greater say

in both policy and the selection of future leaders.

Spurred on by the palpable rage of his activists at the Tory conference, who let fly at a Cabinet they blamed for losing the election, Mr Hague persuaded his MPs to accept a significant loss of influence. Bedding-in his reforms will be the next step.

Mr Hague must also worry about improving his personal standing in the public eye. Despite strong performances against Tony Blair at Prime Minister's Questions, he scarcely

registers on the popular radar. A poll in the Times last week suggested he has yet to work his way into the

people's affections.

The reshuffle matters, however, because it gives us an insight into the parlous state of the Tory parliamentary party. And it tells us something about the constraints that continue to dog Mr Hague nearly a year since he took over the leadership.

If his objective was to announce a decisive break with the discredited Major administration, then yesterday's exercise must be counted a failure. Sir Brian Mawhinney, Stephen Dorrell, and Alastair Goodlad have gone - the first two voluntarily - but Peter Lilley, Michael Howard, Gillian Shephard, Andrew MacKay, and Sir Norman Fowler are still there to remind voters of the gang they turfed out last year.

Mr Hague lacks a pool of talent from which to choose his front benchers. Most of the Tories who survived the May cull were either former ministers, now guilty by association, or those who never stood a chance of promotion under Mr Major - let alone under Mr Hague. None of the new intake has so far shown the kind of deftness of touch which would warrant a battlefield promotion straight to the Shadow Cabinet.

The shortage of candidates was not the only difficulty facing Mr Hague as he compiled lists of names for promotion. He also had to contend with the split over Europe that runs through his party.

Last year he persuaded his colleagues to harden Tory policy against the single currency by ruling out British membership for the lifetime of this Parliament and the next. The right-wards shift sparked one resignation from his shadow team - David Curry - and sowed the seeds of Mr Dorrell's departure. They, like Michael Heseltine and Kenneth Clarke, fear Mr Hague's overt Euro-scepticism risks consigning the party indefinitely to the political fringes.

Some of Mr Hague's choices are not justified by performance. John Maples, once tipped for great things, has been lacklustre in the health brief and has missed the open goal presented by rising NHS waiting lists. Francis Maude, an unlikely culture vulture against Chris Smith, must show some spark if he hopes to make a dent against Gordon Brown.

And some decisions can be attributed only to past loyalties. Andrew MacKay, a close friend, has been an acknowledged failure in the Northern Ireland brief - he spent the Good Friday negotiations working on his trademark tan in Africa - but he remains in place.

HAGUE'S reshuffle includes a few causes for a quiet cheer. Ann Widdecombe's promotion is overdue. Despite the jokes about her appearance, she has shone in the Commons, displaying a deft touch at Question Time with the kind of zingers that Ministers hate and Opposition back benchers love.

Dr Liam Fox is also a welcome addition to the team. He earned his spurs in the trenches of Scottish devolution with a succession of effective speeches. His youth and his exuberant lifestyle will help liven up Shadow Cabinet meetings. And the genial and unflappable Michael Ancram's sterling service in the exhausting constitutional brief is rewarded with a promise of the party chairmanship when Lord Parkinson stands down as planned next autumn.

If Mr Hague is asking us to judge him by his choice of lieutenants, then this one gets the thumbs down. His priority will now be the Listening to Britain exercise being masterminded by Peter Lilley, which will help shape the policies the Tories desperately need if they are to stand any hope of returning to power.

n THE tabloids dubbed her ''Doris Karloff'', but ANN WIDDECOMBE can expect rave headlines as the unlikely

star-turn of William Hague's new team. She has come a long way since her days as Prisons Minister when she defended the shackling of a pregnant prisoner. The 50-year-old childless, unmarried Catholic convert makes no bones about her looks. She has impressed with the vigour and style she has shown in the Commons over the past year. Her scathing verdict on former boss Michael Howard - ''there is something of the night about him'' - made her a household name. She can be expected to bring the same hard work she showed at the Home Office - she was the first Minister to visit all 135 English prisons - to the

Health brief.

n LIAM FOX is better known in London circles for his links with the singer Natalie Imbruglia. The former GP sits for a Somerset seat but his roots are proudly West of Scotland. He was raised in East Kilbride and educated at Glasgow University. Both his grandfathers were Lanarkshire miners. He is a close friend of Mr Hague - he was an usher at the wedding - but his promotion is down to hard work. His speeches during the Scotland Bill won praise for their energy. His relative youth - he is 36 - and his belief that the Tories need to show a populist touch if they are to regain the support of the voters mark him as one to watch.

n FRANCIS MAUDE was a Thatcherite high-flier until the 1992 election, when he lost his seat. His enforced exile meant he avoided association with the Major years. A cerebral

right-winger, he was an

obvious choice for immediate inclusion in the Shadow Cabinet. The former Treasury Minister will bring a rapier intellect to the economics brief, but he will need all his skills to make a mark against Gordon Brown. He is a committed

Euro-sceptic, but he must live with a stain on his record: as a Foreign Office Minister at the time, his signature is on the Maastricht Treaty.

n MICHAEL ANCRAM has been rewarded for his exhausting efforts on the constitutional affairs brief. The 52-year-old aristocratic former Minister is the kind of safe pair of hands Mr Hague needs in his team and is ideally suited to take on the salesman's role of party chairman next autumn. The Earl of Ancram - he doesn't use the title - likes to entertain his colleagues with his folk

guitar. He also favours ties with elephant motifs, based

on Denis Healey's maxim

that ''when there's an elephant on your doorstep you know about it''.

n A few months ago GILLIAN SHEPHARD was tipped as a likely reshuffle victim. But the diminutive Norfolk MP has instead been pitched in against John Prescott's super-Ministry, where her combative style, concealed beneath the genial exterior of a favourite headmistress, is expected to produce results. Despite

her close associations with

John Major, she has emerged

as one of Mr Hague's most reliable allies.