Women have been the winners and the losers in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle.

There are still two Ministers to be named. That won't happen until May, when Murray McCully hands over Foreign Affairs and Hekia Parata stands down as Education Minister. It's likely Nikki Kaye will take over that Education portfolio, if her health permits.

Into the Cabinet comes Louise Upston. I'm surprised. I thought she'd lose her portfolios. Instead, she's lost Women’s Affairs but she's been promoted into Cabinet and she's gained Corrections. That's a big portfolio and it's a chance, I guess, for Upston to really prove herself.

Upston's promotion comes, to a certain degree, at Judith Collins demotion. She loses not just Corrections but also Police -- two portfolios she really stamped her name on. She is now Minister of Energy and Resources, Minister of Revenue and Minister of Ethnic Communities too, so she'll be busy but she'll be busy out of the public eye. Those three portfolios are much lower profile than Police and Corrections, so if Collins still has leadership aspirations, she won't be in a position to build her public profile while she's in charge of those three portfolios -- certainly nowhere near the profile she gained as Minister of Police, and Minister of Corrections.

That said, it's widely reported that Collins wanted Revenue, and as a former tax lawyer, she lobbied John Key for some time for that portfolio. Still, she drops two places to 16. It can't be viewed as anything other than a demotion.

Paula Bennett has five portfolios as well as Deputy PM. She'll be busy. But she heads up Police, Tourism and Women's Affairs which is now a portfolio which is inside Cabinet. Bennett has wide appeal to women - and men for that matter - and I suspect she put her hand up for that portfolio.

Amy Adams takes over Social Housing from Bennett, and State Housing from Bill English. Adams will be busy too as Minister of Justice and Minister for Courts. She's Associate Minister of Finance as well. Adams is a good Minister I think. A sort of female version of Bill English. Sound. Smart. Fuss-free. Dependable. What you see is what you get. Adams will just get on with getting the job done.

And as for Jo Goodhew? Well, she's gone. She’s the major casualty in the reshuffle. She's no longer in Cabinet and she's lost all of her portfolios.

But Bill English has reshuffled his Cabinet to reveal a mix of experience and rejuvenation and he's done so without a huge amount of fallout -- and that's a win ahead of next year's Election.