In case you haven’t noticed it yet, the predicted post-conference cabinet reshuffle is underway as we speak, and as I’ve got a little but of spare time, I’m going to have a crack a liveblogging the ‘action’.

So, it’s 10:30 and the story so far is…

Ruth Kelly will, of course, be leaving the cabinet to spend more time with her family – that we already knew – but the story that the will dominate the news agenda is the return of New Labour’s ‘Prince of Darkness’, Peter Mandelson, who’ll be returning from Europe to become Lord Mandelson.

The smart money is currently on Mandelson picking up the Business and Enterprise portfolio from John Hutton, who looks to be the likely replacement for Des Browne at Defence – Browne is leaving the government and returning to the back benches.

It’s also understood that Gordon Brown’s chief spokesman, Damian McBride is to quit as well.

10:35 – Official announcements will be in short supply for a while as Gordon is attending at a memorial service in Luton, but its thought that Margaret Beckett will be caravanning back in to the fold in what’s expected to be a ‘cabinet enforcer’ role.

Geoff ‘Buff’ Hoon is thought to be out as Chief Whip – and not before time – but will stay in cabinet, where he may be handed the Transport portfolio. There was some speculation that he might be shuffled of to Europe to replace Mandelson as an EU commissioner but, clearly, Gordon is compassionate man and decided that its better to spare the EU that experience.

So far as a replacement for Hoon goes, its thought the Nick Brown is in the frame, which is good news – mind you, any replacement for Hoon is going to be an improvement.

10:45 – Some House of Lords stuff to be going on with…

Digby Jones has stood down, after mouthing a few platitudes, and Lord Rooker looks set to leave his position as Deputy Leader of the Lords.

10:47 – Hilary Benn, who some thought might be for the chop, is reportedly stay at Environment but there appears to be some rejigging of portfolio with that of Business and Enterprise.

10:50 – Beckett’s situation seems to be a bit either/or at the moment, with rumour circulating that instead of becoming Brown’s ‘cabinet enforcer’ she may get Mandelson’s old ticket to Europe. If that’s true it will mean another by-election.

11:10 – All quiet at the moment, although Brown’s attendance at a memorial service has Iain Dale rather nonplussed…

10.57 How on earth is Gordon Brown conducting a reshuffle, when he is live on Sky News with the dreadful Michael Winner in Luton?!

The answer’s simple – the reshuffle plans were finalised last night.

Elsewhere, Matthew Parris reckons that Mandelson’s return is a shrewd move, while Nick Robinson is apparently ‘gobsmacked’.

11:15 – News just in on the re-jigging of the Environment portfolio. There will, apparently, be a new department and cabinet post created, which will pick up the energy portfolio from Business & Enterprise and the Climate Change portfolio from Environment.

11:20 – There’s some confusion at the moment about Des Browne’s fate – the Beeb have him ‘leaving the government’, which implies a return to the backbenches, while Benedict Brogan reckons he’ll hang on to the Scottish Office.

Brogan also reckons that the revised Environment portfolio will amount to no more than a reversion to the old Ministry of Agriculture and puts Ed Miliband in the frame for the new Energy/Environment portfolio (oh boy will DK be happy about that!) with Liam Byrne moving to the Cabinet Office and Baroness Scotland becoming a temporay EU commissioner, avoiding the risk of by-election.

Reports of Damian McBride’s demise may also be a little premature as he may be moving to role that takes in long-term strategic planning.

11:25 – Confusion over, Browne is definite out the door and has gone from two jobs to no jobs. It will be interesting to see who his replacement will be and whether they’re much more of left-wing figure, which would indicate that Brown may be gearing up for a fight with the SNP.

11:34 – And it’s confirmed. Ed Miliband is the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

It’ll be interesting to see quite how Cameron responds to that move and whether he’ll re-jig the Shadow Cabinet to hand Milband a direct counterpart. Right now, Miliband new portfolio is covered by Alan Duncan (Business) and Peter Ainsworth (Environment), neither of whom have had that much of a public profile of late.

11:40 – Should mention that both Caroline Flint and John Cruddas are hotly tipped for promotion. Flint has been tipped for a move to the Cabinet Office, but then so has Liam Byrne, so its a wait and see.

Meanwhile, Cruddas has been hotly tipped for the Housing portfolio which, if true, would put him opposite Grant ‘1234′ Shapps.

11:50 – Oh, how remiss of me. One of my personal ‘foibles’ when liveblogging is that of throwing in an apt video or two to liven up the slow patches, so how can we mark Mandy’s return?

I know, a bit of Kaiser Chiefs…

12:15 If you need a bit of light relief, check out the Indy’s front page RSS feed where, by a dating quirk, the lead story is (and has been for ages)…

Mixed grill of pork with crabapple sauce

A year or so ago I bought some lovely skewers with a pig design on from my favourite cookshop in Paris, E Dehillerin in the Rue Coquillière. I’ve actually only just started using them but they look great, in a twee sort of way.

What the hell, it is lunchtime…

12:18 News is in short supply at the moment, so the MSM is focussing on reaction to Mandy’s return.

Blunkett thinks its a ‘masterstroke’. Graham Stringer, who only recently lead the charge in calling for a leadership contest, seems pretty chuffed and John McDonnell is pissed off to the eyeballs. If placating the Blairites was part of the game, then Mandy’s return seems to have done the job.

12:24 – Having taken the piss out of the Indy’s RSS feed, I should be fair to them and point out that they’ve got a pretty good reaction piece on the go, one that’s all the more interesting for the comments of business leaders…

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, said: “John Hutton has succeeded in giving the new Department for Business a sense of mission and drive that was lacking at its predecessor, the DTI. In particular, he has taken decisive action to try to deliver energy security of supply in the future.

“The Department for Business must have a heavyweight political big hitter at the Cabinet table, and we are encouraged that Peter Mandelson is returning to this role.”

John Wright, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This shock return is no surprise to us, given Mr Mandelson’s previous tenure at the DTI and his current position as Britain’s European Commissioner for Trade.

“Mr Mandelson’s experience will mean that he can do away with the probationary period and get straight into the business of dealing with the current credit crunch.

“We will be seeking an early meeting with him in order to convey some very easy-to-implement measures to safeguard the future of small businesses during these difficult times.”

Martin Temple, chairman of the Engineering Employers Federation, said: “John Hutton was a good advocate fighting for business across Whitehall and it was important that they replaced him with a big hitter – which Mr Mandelson certainly is.

“His experience as EU Trade Commissioner, and having previously been at the old DTI, should be invaluable in ensuring that business continues to have a strong voice at the Cabinet table.”

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Peter Mandelson did a good job at the DTI and clearly understands business.

“His work in Europe and involvement in global trade discussions also mean that he knows where the UK fits within the international context. We look forward to working with him in these challenging economic times.”

This could get very interesting given that Cameron’s closest ties with are with the City bankers and hedge funds, who’re currently about as popular as a bacon sarnie at a barmitzvah, while Mandy’s getting good write-ups from industry.

13:00 Well, it is a female peer who’ll be replacing Mandelson as an EU Commissioner, but its not Baroness Scotland, its Baroness AShton of Upholland, the current leader of the House of Lords.

No news yet on her replacement.

13:05 And there’s another interesting move in the offing – former Editor of the Sun Newspaper, David Yelland, is seemingly in the frame to become the government’s new Director of Communications, Alistair Campbell’s old job.

13:25 Apparently the Yelland story’s been pulled by Adam Boulton, so it look as if that may have been a speculation too far…

13:27 Liam Byrne has entered Number 10 by the front door a short while ago, which is usually a clear sign that there’s a cabinet post in the offing. It’ll be interest to see where he goes as he’s very much a detail man and widely considered to be a safe pair of hands when dealing with difficult portfolios.

13:30: All change on Margaret Beckett, with Ben Brogan suggesting that she’ll be handed the Housing portfolio. Could this mean that Cruddas has turned down a ministerial post or has Gordon got something else in mind for him, perhaps a role within the party rallying the troops and building bridges with the grassroots?

13:40 – BTW, that Mandelson interview in the New Stateman is here…

13:46 – Also from Ben Brogan, its seems that Liam Byrne will be taking over the Cabinet Office role previously held by Ed Miliband…

…and with that, I’m going to have to duck out for while to collect my daughter from school.

Please feel free to carry thing on in comments… unless any of the LibCon writers fancy picking up the thread.

15:50 – And we’re back in the saddle…

And what we know now that we didn’t a couple of hours ago is that Liam Byrne and Margaret Beckett have been confirmed as, respectively, Brown’s new ‘cabinet enforcer’ and Housing Minister.

Meanwhile, Caroline Flint is to become the new Minister for Europe, with Jim Murphy moving from the Europe portfolio to the Scottish Office and it would appear that Tony McNulty may be getting responsibility for London and a brief to get after Boris…

Oh, and Justin Forsyth is taking over from Damian McBride as press advisor, which won’t mean much to most people but will probably bring out a few signs of relief in Labour ranks as Forsyth is much less chummy with the lobby hacks than his predecessor. Take this as yet another sign of the government closing ranks and tightening up the operation at Downing Street.

And that looks to be that… back in a while with some analysis…