Brexit Made Simple – Issue 19, THE UK GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE

What is the issue?

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has carried out a reshuffle of his Ministerial team.

Normally, reshuffles take place immediately after a General Election. However, despite emerging with a significant majority in December’s poll, Johnson chose to make very limited changes as a means of avoiding dissent in Tory ranks in advance of Brexit on 31 January 2020.

Following the UK’s departure from the EU, he felt free to act.

What is the purpose of a reshuffle?

The power of patronage – hiring and firing – is arguably any Prime Minister’s greatest power of all.

He or she can promote trusted allies to key jobs, reward loyalty, remove poor performers and seek to “box in” would be rivals by offering them roles that keep them out of the political limelight. 

In normal times, a Prime Minister would try to achieve some form of ideological balance in their appointments. For example, Theresa May sought to include a number of ardent Brexiteers in her Government; alongside Ministers who had campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum. 

Unfortunately, her efforts were undermined when several prominent Vote Leave figures including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Brexit Minister Suella Braverman and Farming Minister George Eustice resigned, citing problems with Mrs May’s stance on Brexit.

However, having purged Tory Remainer MPs in the last Parliament and forced all Conservative General Election candidates to sign a pledge to follow his hardline approach on Brexit, there are no longer any moderate Tory MPs left for Johnson to choose from. 

Did his reshuffle go to plan?     

Definitely not. 

The had been persistent rumours of tensions between the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, and Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s de-facto Chief of Staff. When Javid met Johnson on Thursday, he was told that he would have to sack all five of his Special Advisers as a condition for keeping his job. Javid refused and, following two further meetings, he resigned. Javid later told the media that he had been left with “no option” as “no self-respecting Minister” could accept Johnson’s demands.

Who replaced him?

Rishi Sunak, a Yorkshire MP who has been Javid’s deputy. He’s articulate but inexperienced, having only entered Parliament in 2015.  It’s clear that he will be taking his orders directly from No10. 

What about the other big jobs?

The holders of the other two “great office of state” are unchanged.

Dominic Raab stays as Foreign Secretary (and First Secretary of State, an occasional add-on used by UK Prime Ministers to feed enormous egos).

Priti Patel, despite suggestions during the General Election campaign that she could be for the chop, remains as Home Secretary.

Who were the other big winners?

George Eustice was certainly a winner. He has joined the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, having been reappointed to his old job as Farming Minister when Johnson entered Downing Street in July. 

Alok Sharma, previously International Development Secretary, was given a big promotion to Business Secretary. He will also have responsibility for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, which will take place in Glasgow in November.

His old job is taken by staunch Brexiteer Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who only became a Defence Minister eight weeks ago and has publicly questioned the value of overseas aid.        

Oliver Dowden, previously a Treasury Minister, also achieves Cabinet rank as Culture Secretary. So too does staunch Johnson ally Amanda Milling who has promoted from Deputy Chief Whip to Conservative Party Chairman.  Former Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay takes Sunak’s old job as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the closure of the Brexit Department. Brandon Lewis, a former Party Chairman who had been Security Minister, is back in the Cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary.

And, in a particularly questionable call, Suella Braverman joins the Cabinet as Attorney General – the Government’s chief law officer. She recently wrote an article calling on Ministers to “take back control” of the judiciary which, in the UK, is meant to be fiercely independent of the Executive.

And the losers?

Julian Smith was the victim of Downing Street vindictiveness, losing his job as Northern Ireland Secretary after challenging Johnson’s Brexit strategy last autumn. Andrea Leadsom, who opposed Johnson in the contest for the Tory leadership, was sacked as Business Secretary. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who introduced Johnson at his leadership campaign launch, was dismissed after threatening to resign last autumn if the Prime Minister did not agree to write to the EU asking for an Article 50 extension. 

DEFRA Secretary Theresa Villiers and Housing Minister Esther McVey – who also stood against Johnson in the race for the Conservative leadership – were amongst those who lost their jobs for a less controversial reason: they weren’t very good.  

What are the lessons of this reshuffle?

That power and control over all levels of the Government are what matter most to Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings. Anything perceived as disloyalty or free-thinking will not be tolerated. Anyone who breaks the code will be dismissed when the first opportunity presents itself.  

Further, as was the case when he was London Mayor, Johnson will look after his friends – particularly those who have been privately educated. Under Theresa May, 30% of Cabinet members went to private schools. Under Boris Johnson, that figure is 69%.

Dr Jason Aldiss BEM

Managing Director, Eville & Jones

17 February 2020

You can follow me on Twitter @JasonAldiss