Cabinet reshuffle: who’s in and who’s out?
After weeks of reshuffle rumours and twitchy ministers, Boris Johnson has finally shaken up his top ministerial team.
This is the first major reshuffle since the pandemic began, and there are a number of casualties. The much-maligned education secretary, Gavin Williamson, justice secretary Robert Buckland and housing secretary Robert Jenrick have all been relegated to the backbenches. Dominic Raab has lost his spot as foreign secretary and Amanda Milling has been sacked as Conservative party co-chairman.
Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, will take over Raab’s role, cementing her position as the longest continuously serving member of the current cabinet. Truss was tipped for a promotion. She gained popularity for her deft handling of post-Brexit trade negotiations, and managed the transition well from Remain supporter to Brexit enthusiast.
Raab has lost one job and gained three; he’s now justice secretary, Lord Chancellor and deputy PM. The move is not entirely unexpected. While Raab – a former justice minister – was commended by many for his competence when standing in for the bed-bound PM last year, he has fallen out of favour more recently over his handling of Afghanistan.
But the sacking of Buckland is likely more to with the need to find a new spot for Raab than any reflection on Buckland’s own performance. Indeed, this afternoon, even Labour MPs Harriet Harman and Jess Philips have congratulated him on the important changes he has made in order to tackle violence against women.
The replacement of Jenrick with the highly experienced Michael Gove seems reflective of the enhanced status of the role itself. Once reserved for a more junior politician, decisions made by this department are now seen as instrumental in the government’s levelling up agenda.
The timing of the switch-up seems fitting. On Wednesday, Johnson laid out the government’s winter plan to tackle Covid, and now he wants the strongest team possible on board to help him “Build Back Better from the pandemic.”
Williamson’s departure was the first to be announced today, and it’s fair to say his sacking comes as no surprise. He has come under fire multiple times throughout the pandemic for his botched handling of the education brief – most glaringly, the A-level exams fiasco which saw thousands of students miss out on their university spots thanks to a controversial algorithm.
Kate Green, Labour’s shadow education secretary, has offered him a less-than-friendly send-off: “Two years of exams chaos and staff abandoned, unsupported and demoralised. That is Gavin Williamson’s legacy.”
Replacing him as education secretary will be Nadhim Zahawi – whose career has been bolstered by the UK’s impressive vaccination efforts.
Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid have, as expected, held onto their positions as chancellor and health secretary, respectively. And Priti Patel has clung onto her post as Home Secretary, despite the record number of migrant crossings dealing a blow to her authority.
Other Cabinet members can breathe a sigh of relief; the main reshuffle drama is over. But changes to the PM’s more junior ranks could go on for days.
Now the incoming secretaries of state have just weeks to familiarise themselves with their new departments before their budgets are set in the big spending review.