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The celebrations are over and it's back to work for all, hangovers being nursed and Henniken (not my pronounciation) bottles being cleared up.

The PM is off to Brussels, his expressed intention to take a holiday if he loses having been frustrated (bet he's sorry about that) and the Cabinet has been formed. There are a couple of interesting twists to that particular tale, the electorate apparently having been listened to. A number of familiar faces are no longer there, the political game being what it is, and there is some fresh new blood coursing. Naturally, there has been disappointment, but the people passed over this time (and their supporters) can't but understand that not everyone can find a place. In any case, on a purely remunerative basis, being a Minister or Parly Sec isn't much cop, a matter which must be addressed and soon, along with certain other posts of national importance, amongst which the judiciary. After all, doctors and pilots, who all perform an important role (and I say this without the slightest bulge in my cheek) have had their status properly recognised: when are we going to do the same with the rest?

A slight breach with convention was committed by Dr Gonzi when the day before he announced his Cabinet, he let it be known that Pullicino Orlando was not in the running, despite his electoral showing. Leaving aside the fact that electoral showings do not, in and of themselves, make one Cabinet material, someone who has been involved in the sort of thing that embroiled Pullicino Orlando is not the sort of person a PM who has made it clear he will stand no nonsense can have on board. When, more precisely if, Pullicino Orlando is found not guilty by the Court of Public Opinion (a dour court indeed) and by any other relevant adjudicator, no doubt he will be given due consideration. In the meantime, he will have to keep himself busy with his private interests, as will all the other MPs who are not in the Cabinet.

It is to be hoped, in this context, that the PM will be perceived to be prone to use his re-shuffling prerogative, now that he has his own mandate. After all, the bible of Cabinet Government (Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister) is clear on this: Ministers come and Ministers go, blessed be the name of the Minister, generally within a year or so of being appointed. Jobs for life don't exist, especially in the Ministerial stratosphere and especially when the electorate has made its wishes pretty darn clear in this context.

I was struck, incidentally, by the dignity shown by Louis Galea and Gavin Gulia when they were interviewed after the results were in and they didn't make it. I have no doubt that they were very disappointed but they carried themselves with class, as did Michael Falzon in his own context. I'm pretty sure that most of the others who didn't make it were equally sanguine about their fate, politics being what it is, but those three were the ones I saw "in action". One who acted in a slightly different way was the erstwhile (no longer soon-to-be erstwhile) Leader of the Opposition, who went down fighting with tired and tested buzz-phrases ("no regrets" and "media imbalance") and a new one, albeit unoriginal and Harvard-inspired ("power of incumbency") I suppose he can't be blamed, though many are blaming him for Labour's third defeat in a row.

Insofar as concerns (what a useful linking phrase) the way Cabinet has been formed, it's interesting, to say the least. John Dalli is back, with a Ministry that suits his organisational and management attributes down to the ground, Dolores Cristina gets a completely new portfolio that I am sure she will carry with the aplomb she showed with her old one, Tonio Borg gets to travel on our behalf, which is about as much fun as having teeth pulled, popular misconceptions notwithstanding and George Pullicino has had his bitter cup taken away from him, much to his delight, no doubt. The PM now has MEPA, the environmental lobby and the hunters to contend with, a job that Pullicino will not envy him. The hunters should not be a problem, really, now that they are a spent force but MEPA will be an entirely different kettle of cod, while balancing environmental priorities with developmental necessities will not be easy, to put it mildly.

Austin Gatt and Giovanna Debono, and Tonio Fenech with a promotion, have been recognised as very effective operators in their fields and pretty much told to carry on, which not a bad thing at all. Carm Mifsud Bonnici has been given the job his old boss had and will now have the same power to do things that Tonio Borg used to have. Carm's problem is that he has to deal not only with the Civil Service, which all his colleagues have to too, but also with the Judiciary, a notoriously tetchy bunch, and the legal profession, which tends to have high expectations of its Ministerial interlocutors, this resulting from the justified perception lawyers have of themselves that they know it all. This particular interface will be interesting, to say the least.

To all of them and their junior colleagues, congratulations. Now get on with it and remember, there but for the grace of God and less than a couple of thousand of us, would have gone the other lot.

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