Boris Johnson carries out a cathartic reshuffle

London: Boris Johnson’s reshuffle might be remembered as the Valentine’s Eve Massacre that eliminated the remnants of the Remainer mindset from Cabinet and from positions of authority in government. Johnson has marshalled his troops: like a general he expects obedience, secretaries of state and junior ministers will obey command and not leave their individual mark on their departments.
This is seen as the sure way to deliver what was promised internally and to have a joined up uncompromising position when negotiating the future relationship with the European Union.
The resignation of Sajid Javid as Chancellor was unexpected; Javid has different fiscal ideology to Johnson and the latter’s top man, Dominic Cummings. Johnson wants to spend on the North, to improve the northern infrastructure and uplift the quality of life of citizens. Javid was more cautious, worrying there was not enough money for defence, security, science, education and housing. In January, Johnson and Javid jointly wrote to all ministers expecting them to cut 5% from their current budgets; the exceptions were in NHS, fighting crime and inequality departments. And now the cost of the newly approved HS2 train link will put pressure on the Treasury’s balancing. The fiscal differences led to differences in the selection/choice of special advisers (Spads); pre-Johnson ministers were able to appoint Spads individually. At the moment, No.10 wants total alignment with No.11 and pre-approved Spad advice will come from a Central Spad Unit. This centralisation is designed to put an end to leaks and talking out of school briefings against the Prime Minister and his Brexit plans. Previously, Javid had one of his Spads removed and it seems this time he is not prepared to accept his advice originating from No.10. His parting comment, “I don’t believe any self-respecting minister would accept such conditions”, could be interpreted as putting down his successor and the beginnings of trouble making.
The government was not expecting this intransigence from Javid. If his first Budget had gone down well Johnson would have received credit, should it have been unpopular that would have been down to Javid. Johnson and Cummings were no doubt conscious of the consequences of “sacking” Britain’s first Asian Chancellor of the Exchequer. Luckily, another Asian was Chief Secretary to the Treasury—Rishi Sunak was an obvious choice for promotion. Sunak, who always seems to come with the epithet of “Infosys’ Narayana Murthy’s son in law”, is of the 2015 intake of MPs. He campaigned for Leave in the Referendum, voted for Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement three times and is a genuine supporter of Boris Johnson. In 2018, Sunak was selected to be parliamentary under-secretary for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Sunak is a Hindu and proud of his British-Indian identity, he is a successful businessman, co-founding an investment firm and working with companies from Silicon Valley to Bengaluru. His strong work ethic is admired and he is quite sporty; the media is hyping up his credentials, not his inexperience. At the moment, nobody knows if the Chancellor/Prime Minister will keep to the Budget Day of 11 March.
Johnson’s ambitious agenda for the Northern Powerhouse will be driven by Grant Schapps, with Simon Clarke championing the North plus a wider national brief as “Minister for Levelling Up”. These initiatives were not fluffy promises from Johnson during the election campaign. These appointments prove Johnson is walking the talk.
Alok Sharma has taken the helm at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This is an important department as it is central to Brexit negotiations and crosses over with other important departments; Sharma is also president of COP26, November’s global climate summit.
Since leaving the EU the UK now enjoys “third party status” there. Thus the Brexit negotiations will be the task of Dominic Rabb, Foreign Secretary. Eurosceptic Anne-Marie Trevelyan takes over International Development and is anticipated to link aid to political outcomes and for the first time ever, all Foreign Office junior ministers are also joint International Development ministers, a step closer to merging the FCO with DFID.
Indians across UK are celebrating the number of Indian origin appointees in the Johnson government. One appointment that has been slightly overlooked is that of barrister Suella Braverman (of Goan ancestry). Braverman is now the Attorney General, a new mother and former chair of the European Research Group. Braverman resigned from her position at Department for Exiting the EU over Theresa May’s Backstop. She has been outspoken regarding judicial interference in politics. Definitely one to watch!