AFTER weeks of build-up and speculation over Tony Blair's Cabinet reshuffle - and with the names of ministers marked out for being moved being written in ever-thicker pencil strokes - the occasion, when it at last arrives, turns out to be a non-event.

It's no change - apart from one new face on the fringe; that of Paul Murphy promoted to Welsh Secretary from being a deputy for Mo Mowlam at Ulster.

The only chop and change comes in the ranks of junior ministers - ostensibly, to give new talent a chance. And Glenda Jackson - from transport - and sports minister Tony Banks depart from their posts, each fancying a future as Mayor of London.

What lies behind the Prime Minister's lack of action?

Is it that Tony Blair, famous for being an I'm-in-charge control freak, is losing his authority? After all, the clearly spelled-out script for the reshuffle had it that Mo Mowlam - now persona non grata with the Unionists in Ulster and its stuck-in-the-mire peace process - would be shifted to Health and NHS boss Frank Dobson would become Labour's anointed man to be London's new mayor. Meantime, Deputy Prime Minister - and prime liability, according to critics - John Prescott, under fire for the state of public transport, would have his power (and damage potential) decreased by losing parts of his mega-ministry that oversees the environment, transport and the regions.

All three dug in and made it clear they did not want to be shifted.

Is Mr Blair no longer boss? Or is it that, worn out by the heavy burdens of the vexed Northern Ireland negotiations and the conflict over Kosovo and wounded by the Tories over Europe (a new opinion poll today shows them ahead of Labour on this), the Prime Minister has not the strength for a fight with his Cabinet fellows right now?

Either way, confidence in Mr Blair's command must have been dented by this departure. Unless, of course, the ploy is to put all his intended targets off-guard and return from his holiday in Tuscany with his axe sharpened. Meantime, he looks weakened by this.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.