Purnell gets his turn after a U-turn

It may be a smart political move that Tessa Jowell, given more time to spend with her Olympic "family", is not required to answer to her successor as Il Supremo at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, James Purnell. Although no longer in the Cabinet, Jowell will work from the Cabinet Office and report directly to the PM.

Is this because ambitious football fan Purnell (pictured), 37, tipped to wear the No 10 shirt one day, may not quite share her enthusiasm for all things Olympic? Just before the London bid he called it "foolish" and declared the money could be better spent - only to be quickly converted on the road to DCMS when given an earlier ministerial post. Let's hope this fortuitous U-turn means he now supports 2012 as ardently as he does Arsenal.

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