Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Dale Butler could have had responsibility for the Ministry of Education as Premier Alex Scott pondered his Cabinet shuffle.

All he had to do was say yes when it was offered, but he declined the post he has always felt was rightfully his from the day the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) first took office in 1998.

Yesterday, Mr. Butler confirmed that he had turned down the opportunity to serve as Minister of Education. ?There were a variety of reasons ? personal and very private reasons,? he said. ?The Premier was disappointed but he understood my personal and private reasons.?

The Premier had a different take. ?Both Mr. Butler and I agreed that he was doing a good job at Community Affairs and Sport,? he said. ?He has brought enthusiasm and energy to that responsibility and in talking to him the possibility of him going to Education was mooted and it was overshadowed by the very good job he has been doing. If it?s not broke, don?t fix it.?

Mr. Scott added ?when you do a shift, you have to have variations on a theme. You can?t go in and say this is the only way of meeting the challenges we have.?

He said that the fact that Mr. Butler was comfortable as Community Affairs Minister meant that ?we were comfortable to have him continue in that post.?

Mr. Butler languished in the backbenches throughout the first PLP administration led by Jennifer Smith, and gained a reputation as an independent minded representative.

In 2002, the former headmaster went public with his disenchantment about not being made Minister of Education ? a post which he said had been promised to him by the late party Leader Frederick Wade. But with Mr. Scott?s ascendancy to the Premiership following Ms Smith?s ouster last summer, Mr. Butler entered Cabinet as Community Affairs Minister.