British cabinet minister quits to become a throttlehead

Let's see now. When ministers of the Crown resign, any minister, they have a rather limited menu from which to select when writing the letter which the stenographers in the news media will reproduce. It's pretty much the same for cabinet members in almost all western democracies.

I wish to spend more time with my family.

My children are now of an age where my presence is now vitally important to their well-being.

My decision is based purely on personal reasons.

I have decided to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

My mistress is about to blow the whistle on me.

Well, when Lord Drayson, the British minister for defence equipment and support wrote his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, he took the opportunity to go out with a bit of a bang and a lot of class.

"I have the opportunity to race next year in the American Le Mans series in the United States, a key step towards my eventual dream of success in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race," Drayson said in a letter to Brown.

"Unfortunately, it cannot be combined with the challenge of full time government office."

Not bad!

For what it's worth, Drayson is not just driving a typical LeMans race car. He has been competing in a British GT series of races in "green" experimental race cars which provide high mileage and feature substantially reduced emission levels. His goal is to move the best of those vehicles into the field of the LeMans 24 hour endurance races.

It could all end there... except its politics and Lord Drayson was right in the middle of it.

Drayson is widely credited with being the architect of the strategy, which is aimed at reforming MoD procurement and support policy. That was rushed out by Drayson in December 2005, just seven months after he joined the government.

A revamp of the strategy was expected in December. Speculation has been rife, though, that the effort had run into problems caused partially by serious funding shortfalls in the equipment budget for the next three years.

One political analyst said there had been other signs Drayson was becoming disenchanted with the MoD.

“He had been snubbed by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he took the decision in July to disband the MoD Defence Export Sales Organisation without any consultation,” he said.

But at least he brought something new to the world of political resignations. That in itself is an accomplishment.