Save David Willetts! - Telegraph Westminster is abuzz with rumours that David Cameron plans to capitalise on his Government's renewed sense of momentum with a reshuffle, to promote some of the members of the 2010 parliamentary intake, one of the strongest in recent memory. To make space, various heads are said to be on the chopping block - among them that of David Willetts, the minister for universities and science. Mr Willetts may not be the most glamorous member of the Government: he is older, balder and more nakedly intellectual than is currently fashionable within his party. Yet he is also an exemplary minister. A clever, thoughtful and decent man, he has worked without apparent friction for a Liberal Democrat, Vince Cable, while racking up a list of distinctly Tory accomplishments. Left to take the flak for the tripling of tuition fees - initially the Coalition's most controversial policy - he not only pushed through the plans, but has seen the new settlement become widely accepted. More recently, he has made great strides in embedding the principles of choice, independence and competition within the higher education sector, not least by lifting Labour's caps on the number of students that universities can accept. On science, he won protection for a vital budget, and secured investment for the hi-tech industries on which Britain's future will depend. And in Opposition, his book The Pinch pushed the issue of generational equality to the front of the political debate, where it has remained ever since. As a product of King Edward's in Birmingham rather than Eton or St Paul's, Mr Willetts has never been a part of the Cameron set. But there are other ministers, inside and outside the Cabinet, who have made far less of a contribution to the Tory cause. If the Prime Minister does choose to replace him, the loss will be entirely his own.