Michael Scott is the new Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce.

However, neither the Education nor the Health Minister will be appointed in the immediate future, with senior backbenchers said to be so angry with Premier Ewart Brown they won't join his Cabinet.

Elvin James and Terry Lister departed at the weekend after calling for the Premier to resign on Friday night amid a storm of protests against his style of leadership.

A third vacancy arose with the sudden death of Health Minister Nelson Bascome yesterday morning.

Minister without Portfolio Walter Roban will take temporary charge of Health, with Senator Kim Wilson combining the Education portfolio with her duties as Attorney General for the summer.

Dr. Brown said in recent days Mr. Bascome had accepted his invitation to double-up as Minister of both Health and Education in the short-term.

The appointment represents Mr. Scott's third stint in Cabinet; twice before he has been sacked by Dr. Brown.

Speaking after his promotion was announced at Progressive Labour Party headquarters Alaska Hall, Mr. Scott told The Royal Gazette: "I'm pleased to be back. I feel upbeat about it; I feel energetic about it.

"It's been a very interesting experience to be out of the Ministry for a period. I have had the opportunity to practise law, which was an excellent interface, with my responsibilities as Junior Minister of Justice."

Mr. Scott has been one of very few backbenchers to neither speak out publicly against Dr. Brown nor vote against his controversial cruise ship gaming bill.

Reflecting on trouble in the PLP ranks, Mr. Scott said: "This has been a punishing week. You will get this in politics.

"I'm a party man, for the Progressive Labour Party. Party men and women continue in the face of any kind of punishing week. We simply identify the purpose for which we were elected and we continue to carry the torch for the people of the Island.

"That's therefore completely the opposite of throwing in the towel and saying 'I'm not going to serve'. You serve. You do what you can to serve the people."

Asked about Mr. Lister and Mr. James, as well as Dale Butler, who quit Cabinet in dismay at the Premier's handling of the Guantánamo Bay affair, Mr. Scott said: "I'm not going to say they have taken the wrong approach. They are personal decisions.

"We are all adult men and women involved in the public life, and we take decisions we think are the correct ones to take."

PLP MPs and members say Dr. Brown will have a difficult time filling the Education and Health posts, with some claiming his only supporter on the backbench is Zane DeSilva, who is less than two years into his parliamentary career.

Yesterday, Dr. Brown said he hadn't asked anyone, front or backbench, to take the Education job.

But he seemed to suggest a possible return for Mr. Butler by adding: "Before too long, we will see that some of the people who are not inclined to work in the team for the past few weeks will find their way back."

One backbencher said the appointment of caretakers for Health and Education showed the Premier is "scraping the barrel".

"Kim Wilson will be the Attorney General and doing Education? With the state of education, it really needs a dedicated Minister at all times," said the backbencher.

Dr. Brown told yesterday's press conference Mr. Lister and Mr. James had both resigned from Cabinet.

This contradicted Mr. Lister's previous statement: "I stood on my feet in Parliament and asked for the Premier to resign. Having done that why would I resign? At no time did I offer my resignation."

The Premier told the media yesterday it wasn't necessary for them to table a letter of resignation, adding: "I invited them to be in Cabinet — after Friday night, believe it or not. They said they couldn't."