and Sport will not come as a great surprise to political observers.

When Premier David Saul named his Cabinet after being elected Premier, Ms Gordon agreed to remain on condition that she stay in the Youth Development Ministry, saying that there were a number of plans she had set in motion which she wished to see completed.

Given that those plans, which presumably included the next phase of the National Stadium and putting the governing bodies of the Island's major sporting bodies into order, have not reached fruition, her reluctance to move to a new portfolio should come as no surprise. And indeed, her move from that Ministry is producing howls from youth groups and sports organisations who see her as one of the best Ministers they have had. See `Opinion', in Sport, Page 49 .

But for all the problems that the "Tim Smith affair'' has brought to Dr.

Saul's young government, Ms Gordon's transfer may prove to be the most propitious.

Largely due to the controversy surrounding planning appeals the Environment Ministry has become a difficult place for Cabinet members in recent years, and Ms Gordon, who has a reputation for forthrightness and honesty, may be the ideal candidate for the job.

While she, and apparently the Premier, feel that Youth Development along with Education are the most important ministries in the present government, it may well turn out that the hard decisions which are going to have to be made with regard to Ship's Hill and other development could allow the new Environment Minister to really make her mark.

Continued pressure on what little remains of the Island's open spaces and the need to maintain the Island's pristine marine environment make this Ministry one of Government's most important in the long run, although it may not be a top priority now.

Ms Gordon, through her "sacrifice'', which may be well received among political pundits, and through her early moves to have the Parks Department returned to her portfolio and her plans to review the Island's sometimes onerous building code, has made a good start.

While many will have some doubts about the benefits of a review of the fishpot ban -- a decision which permanently made the reputation of another female Cabinet Minister -- there is a no harm in having a new broom in the Ministry.

And if Ms Gordon can win the same respect from those on the different sides of the environmental fence that she clearly has from the Island's often rancorous sporting bodies, Bermuda will be the better for it.