Digby to abandon Gordon before election

That's gratitude. Lord 'Digby' Jones, whom Gordon Brown made Trade Minister as part of his much vaunted 'Government of all talents', has revealed he will quit office before the next election because he refuses to openly support the Prime Minister.

It didn't look like a match made in heaven from the start. On being appointed to the job Lord Jones, a free spirit who used to head up the CBI, refused to join not just the Labour Party but any political party. Since then he has openly criticised the Government over changes to Capital Gains Tax and taxing 'non-doms'. Insiders say he has a 'fraught' relationship with the PM. They are "chalk and cheese", says a source.

Brown is not the only Labourite to have thrown a disapproving look at the peer. As The First Post reported recently, there was much criticism when he insisted on holding onto his ministerial Jaguar when other ministers had to go green and change to Toyota Priuses; also some OTT remarks at a dinner held for Arab businessman and diplomats - he informed them he was "half bulimic – I eat a lot, but I don’t throw up" - caused a predictable fuss.

So is the end of Lord Jones's political career? Far from it. Tory leader David Cameron recently lavished praise on him and speculated that he might over to the Conservatives if they won power.