Heseltine rules out serving in a Cameron government

There has been speculation in the press recently that Michael Heseltine might be offered a Cabinet post after the next election. But in an interview for the BBC’s Straight Talk with Andrew Neil, Hesletine is fairly Shermanesque in his denials:

“I would be 77, and frankly David Cameron does not need 77 year olds in his Government.  We do not have the physical stamina to sit up all night reading those interminable papers, arriving for breakfast meetings or whatever it may be, 6 days a week, or 5 and a half days a week, so it’s better to, you know – any advice we can give is free and available and welcome to it but you mustn’t think in terms of recruiting people like me.”

The construction of his first Cabinet will be a tricky task for Cameron. The shadow Cabinet is currently 34 when the Cabinet should only be 24 and the right of the party feels that the left of the party is currently over-represented in the shadow Cabinet with Ken Clarke, Andrew Lansley and Sir George Young all in it.