Back in the mid-1990s the John Major Conservative Government was often referred to as "The East Anglian Mafia" because of the number of MPs from this region sitting around the Cabinet table.

Now it appears that we have "The East Anglian Mafia II" following the announcement of Liz Truss's first cabinet, with seven senior ministers from this region.

Heading the list, of course, is Suffolk Coastal MP Dr Therese Coffey who has been given the title Deputy Prime Minister as well as Secretary of State for Health.

Joining her are Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (Braintree), Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Brandon Lewis (Gt Yarmouth), International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch (Saffron Walden), Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith (Norwich North) and Overseas Development minister Vicky Ford (Chelmsford).

That means that in total there are seven MPs from Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex around the cabinet table (Ms Ford is not a full member, but will attend meetings).

During the early 1990s John Major (who represented Huntingdon) appointed John Gummer, John MacGregor, Richard Ryder, Tony Newton, Gillian Shephard, and Peter Lilley who all represented seats in the eastern region.

They were joined by former Maldon MP Lord John Wakeham who was elevated to become Leader of the House of Lords - and were later joined by Peterborough MP Brian Mawhinney.

I'm not sure that having a cabinet minister or Prime Minister as your local MP is particularly great for an individual constituency - I don't remember untold riches being channelled to East Anglia when the "Mafia" was in place!

But it certainly does give a certain cachet to a constituency organisation. I'm sure there are a few leading Tories in South West Norfolk and Suffolk Coastal who are preening themselves at being represented by the Prime Minister and her deputy.

In some ways having a cabinet minister as a local MP can be seen as a disadvantage. They can be seen as being so busy on ministerial issues that they don't have time to deal with constituency matters.

Actually that's not really true - and depends more on who the minister/MP is and how well organised their constituency office is.

Ipswich Star: John Gummer was a cabinet member under John Major - but retained close links with his Suffolk Coastal constituency.John Gummer was a cabinet member under John Major - but retained close links with his Suffolk Coastal constituency. (Image: Archant)

I've known some ministers - John Gummer was a great example - who always remained very much on top of his constituency work and as always being seen around the area - while some backbench MPs can be very elusive for both their constituents and their local media representatives!

One thing that is noteworthy is that in the 1990s both South West Norfolk and Suffolk Coastal were represented by high-profile cabinet ministers (Mrs Shephard and Mr Gummer) and now they are represented by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Ipswich Star: Gillian Shephard was a member of John Major's cabinet when she was MP for South West Norfolk.Gillian Shephard was a member of John Major's cabinet when she was MP for South West Norfolk. (Image: Archant)

And of course one prominent local MP has stepped back from ministerial responsibilities as a result of the change of leadership - Witham MP Priti Patel has stood down as Home Secretary and returned to the back benches.

One thing all the cabinet appointments have in common is that they all backed Ms Truss in the leadership election. None of Rishi Sunak's supporters have been given a place around the cabinet table.

That looks like what Sir Humphrey Appleby would have described as a very courageous decision - especially given the fact that Ms Truss didn't win the vote among MPs and the fact that the country is facing a very serious economic crisis.

That makes claims that she is trying to unite the Conservative Party after a fractious leadership election ring rather hollow.

If the government's new package of measures solves all the economic worries in the country at a stroke and sees the Conservatives riding high in the polls again she will be fine and her leadership should go from strength to strength.

But if there are major bumps in the road, the economy doesn't recover as quickly as she hoped and we get stuck in a recession or years of stagflation then they'll be plenty of disgruntled MPs sitting behind her muttering: "I told you so" as the Tories struggle in the opinion polls as a general election gets ever nearer.

And could that end up as another parallel with the East Anglian Mafia of 1992-7? It might have been nice for this region to have so many cabinet ministers, but ultimately they could not prevent the Tories from suffering their worst defeat in living memory.

Could history repeat itself? If it does we won't have to wait five years this time - there will have to be a General Election by the end of 2024.