THE JUDGES' SIXTH CABINET
Prime Minister Deputy PM Chancellor Foreign Lord Chancellor Home Education/Employm Environment Leader of Commons Culture Cabinet Office International Develop Social Security Agriculture Leader of the Lords Trade/Industry Health Regions Defence Transport Treasury Chief Sec	Yvette Cooper Kenneth Clarke David Trimble Tony Blair Alan Milburn Michael Ancram Stella McCartney Tracey Emin Ian Duncan Smith Sven Eriksson Menzies Campbell Britney Spears Tony Benn Gordon Brown Peter Hain John Swinney Martin Bell Nigella Lawson Harry Potter David Blunkett Michael Heseltine	62 54 40 33 28 28 27 27 27 26 23 23 22 22 22 20 20 19 18 18 16 575

Our Fantasy Politics game is back - but with a potential scandal. After the suspension of play in early April, because of the unexpected delay in the general election date, the judges met again last Tuesday, as Tony Blair announced the general election. The chairman's suspicions, however, were aroused by the high marks awarded to Harriet Harman, and it emerged that she may have bought at least one of the judges lunch. Though there are no question marks about the scores deservedly awarded to her earlier in the game - and there is no evidence so far that she deliberately tried to suborn the judges - the chairman felt he had no alternative but to launch an investigation. Like all official investigations, it will be full and speedy, but Harman is suspended, pending its outcome.

Her temporary (we hope) absence allowed another high-flying new Labour woman, Yvette Cooper, a clear run into No 10, for the second time in the game (she was also PM in late February). Cooper, it was agreed, had made a skilful appeal to women in a way that politicians rarely do, giving interviews in which she revealed a craving for bacon sandwiches after the birth of her first child. Her deputy is Kenneth Clarke, who continues, without doing anything much, to outshine everybody on the Tory front bench - though, in this round, both Michael Ancram and Iain Duncan Smith achieved high-ranking cabinet positions. David Trimble is a surprise choice as Chancellor; he was judged to have timed his threat to resign as Ulster's First Minister brilliantly, to coincide with the official announcement of the election campaign. Then, as Foreign Secretary, comes Tony Blair himself, despite the verdict of one judge that his new glasses made him look like Larry Grayson. No doubt he will be delighted to learn that his great rival Gordon Brown, who has done consistently well in previous rounds (note that he is the only front-bench politician with a cumulative score of more than 100), this time makes into the cabinet only as minister of agriculture. But Blair will probably be still more delighted that William Hague and Ken Livingstone get the biggest minus scores of the round. Hague was marked down for his abysmal handling of the race issue. Livingstone was criticised for declaring war on the Trafalgar Square pigeons; denouncing the May Day protesters in lurid terms; and threatening to cover London with skyscrapers.

Among the celebrities, Stella McCartney gets the highest cabinet position - being photographed holding hands with another woman, the judges decided, merely added to her already high profile. Tracey Emin, after the opening of a widely acclaimed new exhibition, gets in at the Department of the Environment. And Britney Spears - marked highly because a scientist discovered that plastering his physics website with information about her drew more than a million hits - will surely make an excellent minister for international development. Some judges marked Chris Evans highly, but clearly not all of them thought that marrying Billie Piper in Las Vegas was the best way for a man to boost his image. Sven Eriksson, the England football manager, obviously made a smarter move being photographed from long range with his girlfriend, and making almost identical front pages in the Sun and the Mirror. He becomes Secretary of State for Culture, a brief that includes sport and thus enables him to make a better fist of the new Wembley Stadium plans than the unfortunate Chris Smith. A red card for inactivity went to Lord Levy. He is now out of the game, while Tommy Sheridan, P D James and The Tweenies - all of them unacceptably quiet - get yellow cards. Levy will take an early bath with several other players sent off in earlier rounds, including three Liberal Democrats. In this round, however, the remaining Lib Dems did better than usual, with Menzies Campbell ("he's in danger of being recognised by the public if he goes on like this," said one judge) making the cabinet. Expect them to do better still as the campaign gathers pace, and they come more to the fore.

The same applies to members of the real Cabinet. In this round, Alan Milburn scored highly for his vision of duck a l'orange in hospitals, and David Blunkett for putting the idea around that his entry to the Home Office is certain after the election (though he should, one judge recommended, refrain from coming out so often as a friend of Peter Mandelson). Stephen Byers did badly in this round because he threatened to sue the Daily Mail and then did nothing. The winning cabinet (ie, the highest-scoring cabinet) from those submitted by readers will be announced next week. A choice between litre bottles of Plymouth Gin, Longmorn 15-year-old Single Malt and Bulleit Bourbon await the lucky cabinet-maker.

The judges meet again on 22 May; their scores will be published in our issue dated 28 May. After that comes one more judging round before the election on 7 June. A grand prize goes to the reader whose cabinet gets the highest cumulative scores over the full eight rounds of the game.

To see the first judges' cabinet click here. To see the second judges' cabinet click here. To see the third judges' cabinet click here. To see the fourth judges' cabinet click here. To see the judges fifth cabinet click here.