appointment is important for other reasons, not
leastbecause of her department's significance to Africa. Of overseas aid
thedepartment administers, 75% goes to Africa. Blair elevated the
departmenthead to cabinet level when Labour came to power in 1997. Before
that it wascalled the overseas development administration and led by the
outspokenBaroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey, who served under the Thatcher
and JohnMajor Tory administrations.

Short took over from Chalker. She
became very popular and outspoken as achampion of developing and poor
countries, and as a critic of Blair'smodernisation some would say
Thatcherite project which sought to transformparty and country
alike.

The Iraqi War led to Robin Cook's resignation as leader of the
House ofCommons. Short called Blair "reckless" and threatened to quit.
Blairundertook to ensure a central role for the United Nations (UN) in
rebuildingpost-war Iraq. Short got upset by the marginalisation of theUN in
recent USresolutions supported by Britain.

For Short, it was time to
go. For Amos it was time for a big and historiccareer move. As minister for
Africa, Amos built a good reputation as aneffective and loyal performer for
Blair. Unlike the critics of Blair's wareffort, Amos stood by his side and
travelled around Africa to rallycountries with seats on the security
council.

Later, after the war had begun, she visited SA and Botswana with
the messagefrom Blair that Africa will not be allowed to fall off the
world's agenda.She conveyed Westminster's sympathy and understanding for
Pretoria's stanceon Zimbabwe but did not hesitate to say business people she
spoke to wereconcerned about it.

What, then, does her appointment
mean for Africa? First, it means Africa'sposition in Westminster is
strengthened. As part of Blair's senior team Amoswould want to have a
visible and positive