Assembling a well-weighted Cabinet that also has genuine potential is a complex feat of political geometry. Whether fitted together in Downing Street or Opposition, some stubborn pieces refuse to go where leaders want them to. Ask Tony Blair. The task can leave a leader trying to squeeze square egos into round holes, or having to start all over again. However, David Cameron, with his first stab at a Shadow Cabinet, has produced a serious-looking team that may help the party to recover from the political plague.

The new Conservative leader has, for the time being, remained true to his campaign platform. First, he has brought together a team of (nearly) all the Tory talents. William Hague’s return to frontline politics will cheer many Tories. That it was conducted on his terms rather than Mr Cameron’s, though, is disappointing. Mr Hague’s commitment to the cause will be open to question if he uses his berth as Shadow Foreign Secretary to maintain some of his business interests.

That said, Mr Cameron has shown skill in incorporating some of his elders. Iain Duncan Smith may never be regarded as a big beast of Westminster. He is well placed, though, to deliver thoughtful recommendations on social justice. Ken Clarke is well suited to a democracy task force that appears vague and of questionable value. At the least, allowing him to rough up ministers from the dispatch box will help to raise Tory morale. While Mr Cameron is at it, surely he could delve deeper into the Tory locker and appoint Lord Heseltine as a one-man shadow for the Today programme.

Mr Cameron’s second achievement is a decent attempt to heal the divisions of the leadership election. Allowing David Davis to remain in charge of home affairs looks magnanimous to a fault. Mr Cameron has certainly been gracious to Davis supporters. Both of David Willetts’s brains appeared to seize up when he threw his lot behind Mr Davis and then changed his mind, but Mr Cameron has done well to persuade him to take the education brief. Liam Fox has dropped down a peg despite supporting Mr Cameron in the final round, though his task of mending fences with the White House is a worthy one.

Mr Cameron’s third aim was to promote women. His top team now contains four, not a bad achievement given the dearth of what The Daily Telegraph would call “Tory totty”. But he had to upgrade Wales to a Shadow Cabinet job, and fill it with a woman, to double Michael Howard’s count of two women. The capable Theresa May is not at her best at the dispatch box, yet has become Shadow Leader of the Commons. That said, the fast-track promotion of the new girl Theresa Villiers shows a commend-able commitment to talent.

However, unless Mr Cameron follows through on diversifying his party, the Tories will struggle to convince the country that they are “modern”. And if he fails to enforce Shadow Cabinet discipline and ensure that all play an active role, his new team will be less than the sum of its parts.