BBC News 24's Chief Political Correspondent, Huw Edwards, looks at a week dominated politically by William Hague's reshuffling of his front bench team.

It's been a great week for commentators and columnists.

William Hague has "done the business", in that ugly phrase. His personal ratings are a disaster area. He's less popular among Tory (yes, that's right, Tory) supporters than Tony Blair. His party lags way behind Labour in the polls.

And this week he reshuffled his front bench team, prompting dozens of predictable comments about the pointlessness of rearranging the deckchairs on a holed Titanic.

"Fresh faces"?

Some of the comments were very funny indeed. But they were hardly fair. I speak as one who had his own share of fun when the list of names was announced. After all, a party leader cannot proudly declare his joy at having a team of "new faces", "fresh faces", when he's flanked by the likes of Howard, Lilley, Fowler and Young.

Michael Howard, for many, is a painful reminder of John Major's time in government. He is not, and does not claim to be, a "fresh face". Sir Norman Fowler has already left front-line politics on at least two occasions. He was there at the start of the Thatcher regime back in 1979. Fresh face? Ha!

Peter Lilley has been promoted to Deputy Leader. He, too, is a prominent reminder of choppy Tory times gone by. And people like Sir George Young, who seemingly made little public impact when they were in cabinet, are poles apart from the few thrusting (genuinely) new faces who made an appearance this week.

Promoted or kicked upstairs?

The star of the reshuffle should have been the Tory party's new deputy leader, Peter Lilley. But he wasn't. There was a difference of view among journalists as to whether he'd been promoted or "kicked upstairs" to head the party's policy review.

The latter assumption was given extra credence by his low-key exit from the rubbish-strewn back porch of Conservative Central Office after his meeting with William Hague. But all this wasn't the main reason he virtually disappeared from the headlines.

Enter Miss Ann Widdecombe.

"Widders" as she is affectionately known to parliamentary friends, or "Doris Karloff" to less kind colleagues, has made what is commonly known as a comeback. In fact, it's more than that. She has taken up a cabinet-level, front-line job for the first time, entering the shadow cabinet as Health Spokeswoman.

Her brief is to knock holes in the government's record on cutting hospital waiting lists. She should do very well against Frank Dobson, who is himself underrated as a parliamentary performer.

Few to choose from

Apart from these changes, the shadow cabinet's new faces left most people nonplussed. Gary Streeter? Nice chap, I can tell you, and very able. Peter Ainsworth? Dr Liam Fox? David Willetts? He's very brainy, but not brainy enough to avoid getting into parliamentary trouble during the Major years.

It's easy to poke fun at unknown figures and to suggest Mr Hague has produced a flop side. But consider another version of events, one given to me by a close Hague associate. He pointed out, rather vigorously, that the Tory benches were not exactly awash with talent. There were just 37 new Tory MPs elected last time round. And as the associate said, a good reshuffle has to prepare the way for the next.

That means one thing. By the time of the next election, the Howards and Fowlers of this world will no longer be shadow ministers. The team will be genuinely transformed. There will indeed be a team of relatively "new" or "fresh" faces.