All about the Johnson government reshuffle
How and why Prime Minister Johnson reshuffled the government. Facts, names and curiosities in the article by Daniele Meloni
“In Liz we Truss”. We trust Liz. Thus supporters of Liz Truss celebrated her appointment as foreign minister – second woman in history, the first Tory – in the government reshuffle that Boris Johnson finally implemented yesterday after the question time in the House of Commons.
Between his office in Westminster and the usual one in Downing Street, all the big names of the Conservative party paraded for a reshuffle that seemed to be postponed until after the party conference in Manchester next October. The appointment that caused the most sensation was that of the former owner of International Commerce in place of Dominic Raab, who was relegated to the role of Minister of Justice with the position of Lord Chancellor and Vice-Premier. If Truss made the most of his previous role, the same cannot be said for Raab, who leaves the Foreign Office with a long message posted on social media in which he thanked both Johnson and the ministry officials with whom, according to reports from the press, there was certainly no good blood. Fatal to Raab was the Afghan debacle and the rather patchy justification for his absence as the Taliban entered Kabul. "True, I was at the seaside, but the beach was closed," Raab said awkwardly to justify himself, after the media reported that he had not even contacted his fellow Afghan peer directly.
Another important appointment was that of Michael Gove, eminence grise par excellence in the Tory house, who took over the House, Community and Local Authorities department from Robert Jenrick. As said by John Craig, political editor of Sky News, Gove has the reputation of being one who gets things done in Whitehall and for this Johnson has entrusted him with the thorny problem of Housing and the delegations to relations with other nations of the United Kingdom and the plan to rebalance the economy of the British regions upwards (leveling up). Many saw Gove's appointment as a foretaste of what Johnson plans to do in the coming months. The new minister will soon face the issue of the Planning Bill, the local planning bill that has already thrown the Tory backbenchers into turmoil. It is estimated that in the conservative Blue Wall there would be up to 30 seats at risk if Jenrick's project goes through.
As in any reshuffle there are the satisfied, the less satisfied and the very angry tout court. Poor Robert Buckland was a victim of the pawn movement in the Tory house and had to leave the Ministry of Justice where, according to most, he had done a great job. Gavin Williamson is expected to leave the Ministry of Education, but he will be replaced by Nadeem Zahavi, the minister for the distribution of vaccines. Williamson – who anticipated his farewell on social media – also received the mockery of a statement from the leaders of the teachers' union – Teachers Union – who stated in no uncertain terms: "We do not mind his farewell at all".
Johnson confirmed many ministers in key executive roles: Sunak remained Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mark Spencer remains at 12 Downing Street as Chief Whip (Tory parent company) and the much-talked-about Priti Patel remains at the Home Office. Confirmations also for Robert Eustice for the environment (he was given for starter), and for the secretaries of state of Scotland (Jack), Ulster (Lewis) and Wales (Hart).
Johnson finally redistributed the proxies of Gove – Duchy of Lancaster and cabinet ministry – to Stephen Barclay, former Treasury Minister and First Secretary of the Treasury. At Culture, he chose 64-year-old scouser (Liverpool native) Nadine Dorries – a past in British reality TV shows – in place of Oliver Dowden, appointed Co-President of the party: a ministry without a wallet, which will allow him to continue to sit in the Cabinet during the Cabinet.
Yesterday's appointments – today those of junior ministers will take place, comparable to our undersecretaries – have highlighted a rebalancing between One Nation conservatives and post-Thatcherian conservatives. If up to now Johnson has seemed more De-Israeli than liberal, the appointment of Truss – who years ago gave birth to the Tory Britannia Unchained group, founded on the belief in free enterprise and free trade – gives the idea of a party that in the future it could again be open to female leadership. The same 46-year-old from Oxford, however, was held the delegation to gender equality – Women and Equality – to the great scorn of those in the Tory house who aspired to the role of minister.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/boris-johnson-rimpasto-governo/ on Thu, 16 Sep 2021 07:16:54 +0000.