Michael Gove has narrated this article for you to listen to.
Shabana Mahmood may be the only Labour politician to have persuaded Rishi Sunak to vote for her. The former prime minister was in the year above Mahmood when they both studied at Lincoln College, Oxford, in the 1990s. When she ran for JCR president, Sunak pledged his support. Meeting Mahmood in her ministerial office this week, I can understand why. There is a sense of quiet purpose about her that instils confidence.
I’m predisposed to sympathise with her more than most because she occupies the post I held for 15 months – Lord Chancellor. It’s the most glamorous and least attractive job in the cabinet. You’re the only minister with your own personal gold-braided gown, wig, pumps and purse bearer – or at least the only one who has to be seen with all four publicly. But you’re also in charge of prisons. The care of 90,000 souls – who are simultaneously the most broken and most dangerous in society – is your responsibility.
Prisons have been in crisis for years. Few holders of the office in recent times have prospered politically. I was sacked from the role, and my two predecessors were demoted, as were most of my successors.
So it takes resilience to survive in the role, let alone succeed. Does the incumbent have what it takes? Mahmood, who is 44 and MP for Birmingham Ladywood as well as a former barrister, has been in post for less than a year. Already she has had to authorise a controversial early release scheme for prisoners and confront the judiciary over sentencing policy.
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