One of the easier predictions I thought I’d made in a twitter string earlier this week was that Theresa May wouldn’t engage in a voluntary major reshuffle of her cabinet this year. Within two hours of me doing so, the political twittersphere was alive with speculation and supposedly informed comment that just such a reshuffle was imminent – talk that Number Ten did little to dampen.
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And well argued piece, that I firmly agree with. Thanks David.
Have we actually had since Maggie a PM who really relished reshuffles?
Boris and Davis are basically unsackable, they are, along with Mogg and Gove, the main contenders to succeed May and both have a strong base within the parliamentary party and significant membership support. There has been no suggestion Davis will actually be removed from his Brexit negotiator post and Boris at most has been suggested as being given a new beefed up Brexit post in the Business Department.
I agree with everything you say but I think she is still going to have to go ahead with some changes. Green's resignation leaves a hole that she has to fill, and there have been whispers for a long time that Macloughlin wants to leave anyway (plus he's hardly been a success as Party Chairman).
It is ironic to reflect however that this problem is caused by her own rigid adherence to both the spirit and the letter of the rules. If she had the lackadaisical approach Corbyn has towards discipline Fallon and Green would both still be in place. Yet it is she who looks weak as a result.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40451301
As soon as I saw the speculation in the newspapers about the reshuffle, I thought it might not happen.
David totally right about the abysmal Tory PR operation which is so crucial though as is stated above this isn't TMay.
The BBC interviewers who did me on Wednesday were convinced that a reshuffle will happen this week - stated it as known fact rather than opinion.
All those important cabinet committees aren’t going to chair themselves.
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/949398137243885569
I really hope he stays where he is, but he'd be an impressive replacement for Davis.
I can’t see more than a limited reshuffle to be honest, we know McLaughlin wants to move on, Green resigned before Christmas and a few promotions of the talent from 2015 needs to happen sooner rather than later though. Hunt would be a good promotion (unrelated to my 100/1 bet on him as next leader) but it’s probably too difficult to move him out of Health in the middle of winter.
Maybe a wider reshuffle in the summer instead?
Perhaps reshuffling her media team, and arranging a straightforward replacement of the Party Chair (who apparently wished to leave anyway) would be the best solution for the time being ?
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jan/05/why-impulsive-vain-toby-young-wants-us-to-take-him-seriously
I so hope Mrs May promotes Ben Wallace.
Gove and Wallace around the same cabinet table would be amusing.
So Mr Wallace, when are you planning to cut off Gove’s penis?
DD to stay, of necessity, Boris to party chair (backbenches if refused). my namesake Dr Fox to go too, replaced by JRM. That role needs a true believer in Brexit, but a competent one. Hunt to Deputy PM.
For Health: Wollaston. She has done great work as chair of Health Select committee, and has formed some very interesting links with Norman Lamb and Liz Kendall on working to an agreed tripartite long term plan for the future of the NHS and Social Care. That is the way forward, and has potential to substantially depoliticise the NHS. It would pull the rug from under Labour on the issue, but more importantly would be the right thing for the country.
Do I think TM capable of this, or it likely to happen? Not really. She is likely to continue as the zombie leader of a zombie cabinet, stumbling its way to an ignominious end, to be later devoured by Jezza.
You’re not going to regulate away teenage boys from finding all the porn the internet has to offer, you’re much more likely to teach them encryption and evasion methods like Tor, VPNs and proxy servers. If there’s one thing the government really doesn’t want it’s for a whole generations of kids growing up to think of these evasion methods as normal.
It seems that Young had a patchy education himself, and is undeniably intelligent, albeit rather lacking in empathy for others and people skills. I am not sure that Oxford is the best place to understand what needs doing in our universities sector, with its college system and international status. The problems in our universities are further down the league tables.
It would be very useful to have someone like Jess Phillips on the committee to counter point his views, but such a board would be a challenge for the chair.
Most importantly, if he wants to be taken seriously then he needs to grow up and act seriously. Heaven, and the country, is very forgiving of a sinner that has truly repented.
Hence in June Labour got its biggest general election voteshare since 2001 but the Tories got their biggest general election voteshare since 1983
https://twitter.com/PA/status/949429053056012288
Move Jeremy Hunt to F&CO.
But whom to move to the NHS? Gove or Patel?
As they say....
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/949530252690317312
I do hope that the Probation service has sufficient resources to keep tabs on him.
What trouble can they cause on the back benches? They are not going to support a vote of no confidence. They can vote on Brexit legislation but only on hardline amendments that will not have the support of the house. They are stuffed. May should sack Johnson and Grayling without delay and bring in new blood.
The TV box problem is basically unsolvable without fundamental changes to the way sports are shown in the UK. Sports events are now televised internationally and often with syndicated English commentary. I can walk into a bar in Dubai or Singapore at 3pm British time on a Saturday and find six live premier league matches on six televisions. Until the British broadcasters can give the public what they want to watch at a reasonable price the piracy wil always be there.
The fault lies partly with the judge and mostly with the Parole Board.
< cynic > Or maybe he had one eye on a future political career and made a point of being able to retrospectively plausibly deny knowledge of anything controversial that may come back to haunt him in the future < /cynic >
The broader issue is the lack of willingness to forgive errors & the mob mentality. In this case Young said some stupid things, but a long time ago and he seems to be more serious now.
If you rule people out if public life for the smallest error, no matter how long ago, you will end up with a very shallow pool of talent to draw on
EDIT: The only voters who can affect her personally, are the ones in Maidenhead at the next election, and they are mainly Remainers.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949616329463615489
She also got great support from Merkel et al by presenting herself to them as weak and at the mercy of the headbangers. "It's me or Boris!". They all hugged her.
She won't be able to play that card in stage 2. She'll be seen as much more secure. It's going to be a rocky road.
An entire sentence from you free of gobbledygook.
Keep up the good work, I see all those esol classes have paid off for you.
https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949619270631256064
https://twitter.com/skynewsbreak/status/949624199781474304