So, with the party conference season now over, the general election campaign has begun with the three main parties jostling for votes in crucial battleground seats.  The composition of Labour and Conservative frontbenches after the general election is likely to be a figure of great speculation over the coming months and beyond the declaration of the result on election night. 

It is difficult to form a clear picture of where the Labour Party may be after the General Election.  Although it is unthinkable that Brown would attempt to carry on as party leader, the chalice – in the event of a Conservative landslide – would be full of poison, as highlighted by William Hague’s leadership of the Conservative Party between 1997 and 2001, where he had the impossible task of trying to win a general election.  For ambitious younger politicians such as the Miliband brothers and Ed Balls, the job would surely be one that they would not want.  Instead, Labour may have to turn to a stop-gap leader such as Jack Straw or Alan Johnson to see them through any potential dark days, or this job may even fall to Lord Mandelson, despite his suggestions to the contrary.  Both of the Miliband brothers are undoubtedly future leaders, but the aftermath of the general election may not be a good time for them to step up to the plate.  

It is impossible therefore to speculate on the composition of any post-election Labour front-bench, although if Jacqui Smith is appointed to the Lords under a cloud of great public uproar on the back of the expenses scandal, as suggested recently by the Daily Telegraph, then the boat could be rocked even further.  What is clear, however, is that the likes of Ed and David Miliband, Balls, Mandelson, Straw and Cooper are likely to be serving in the Labour team.

The composition of David Cameron’s frontbench team after the general election is a highly debated subject. The topic attracted
substantial attention in the wake of the Conservative Party conference, where he only made mention of eleven of its current members in his speech to the party faithful.    

Maybe Mr Cameron is keen to keep his options open until after the general election. If he experiences a landslide in the way that Tony Blair did in 1997, he may have plenty to choose from when allocating the top jobs in government.  Mr Cameron already has many stars in his midst, namely Michael Gove, Bob Neill, Jeremy Hunt, Theresa May, Chris Grayling, Philip Hammond, Liam Fox and William Hague, amongst a number of others. 

That said, many Conservatives believe that David Cameron should be looking to consolidate his frontbench team further by re-introducing David Davis, the former Shadow Home Secretary and Party Chairman who is one of the biggest hitters in Westminster.  Davis traded on having ‘seen off’ four successive Home Secretary’s in the time that he was their shadow and his record cannot be denied. Davis is a renowned grafter, a self-made man from a working-class background, he has high level business experience and he brings much experience to the table.  By bringing him back into the fold, the Conservative ship would arguably be far more water-tight as he has all of the right characteristics to be a fantastic Secretary of State and a safe pair of hands in any given department.