As I’m going to be doing little else than sip Earl Grey while watching the News channel for reshuffle news, I thought it might be a good idea to have an open thread to cover events. If you want a laugh, you can have a look at the predictions I made last night.
So, what do we know so far?
Well, Andrew Mitchell, the former International Development secretary was last night appointed Chief Whip.
Sayeeda Warsi is not going to be Party Chairman any more.
Ken Clarke is moving from Justice and is expected to have a Minister without Portfolio role to advise on economic strategy amongst other things. Given that his Justice role had him implementing policies that any Liberal Democrat would be proud of, this could be worrying.
Cheryl Gillan is not going to be Secretary of State for Wales.
Caroline Spelman is being tipped to be out as Environment Secretary, but nothing has been confirmed.
The BBC is just talking about how the main casualties of the reshuffle are women.
It’s also worth pointing out that both Warsi and Gillan took to Twitter to announce their changes, Gillan removing “Secretary of State for Wales” from her profile.
We’ll keep you updated during the morning as events unfold.
While we’re waiting for more news, you might be amused by Liberal Democrat minister Norman Lamb’s tweet from last night which simply said:
Not entirely illuminating. I did ask him to elaborate, told him that he could share what he knew with Twitter and we wouldn’t tell anyone, but he didn’t bite.
Stephen Tall writes… (09.32 am)
For the Lib Dems, here are I think the key things to look out for:
1. Cabinet ministers: the working assumption is none of the five — Clegg (DPM), Cable (Business), Davey (Energy & Climate Change), Alexander (Treasury) and Moore (Scotland) — will move.
2. Which post will David Laws get? We know he’s coming back, most likely it seems within the Education department — he was the Lib Dems’ schools spokesman before 2010 — and perhaps as a non-voting cabinet member (a la Oliver Letwin).
3. Who else will be promoted? Jo Swinson seems a certainty. Jeremy Browne and Lynne Featherstone are likely to be moved, but probably to more senior ministerial roles — perhaps the Home Office and Housing or Communities & Local Government respectively?
4. Who will make way for the promoted? Schools minister Sarah Teather seems a likely casualty, spending more time with her marginal constituency. Others who may leave include Lord (Tom) McNally at Justice — a key role with Ken Clarke’s departure — and Andrew Stunell at Communities & Local Government.
Caron back again to report that it’s been confirmed that both Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith are remaining at Education and Work and Pensions respectively.
9:59 am: While we’re waiting for more news, you might want to have a look at Mark Pack’s post from earlier this year – the night of the long beards. What could this mean for David Heath?
10:10 Caron again. I wondered if Danny Alexander might be up for a move. He is currently in a job where he’s required to make many unpopular announcements mainly because of the difficult economic circumstances in which we find ourselves. Anyone who’s ever been Treasurer of anything will understand how frustrating and tough this can be, even if you do your job really well. A couple of years in a job where he could be in charge of implementing a key Liberal Democrat priority might be on the cards for Danny. I stress I have nothing in the way of evidence to back that up, but could he and Ed Davey be on for a job swap? Climate change would be the only sensible place to put Danny as Vince and Mike Moore seem to be staying where they are. It’s a long shot, but worth more than an idle thought.
Stephen Tall writes… (10.25 am)
A quick reminder of some of LibDemVoice’s polling of party members’ views on the reshuffle:
1) We asked who Lib Dem members want to see stay/axed in the next Cabinet reshuffle here: the most popular Tory was Ken Clarke, long ago labelled the sixth Lib Dem cabinet minister and now sadly shunted out of the Justice department, closely followed by William Hague.
2) We also asked who were top of Lib Dem members’ wish-list for promotion here: Jo Swinson, Julian Huppert and were by some way the most-mentioned.
10:39 Caron writes:
Confirmed appointments:
- Andrew Lansley moved from Health to be Leader of the Commons
- Theresa Villiers to Northern Ireland
Confirmed sackings:
- Edward Garnier as Solicitor General
Chris Grayling and Jeremy Hunt have been seen going in to Downing Street. The BBC were reporting that Hunt could be moved to Health which would be a big promotion for somebody who has attracted such controversy over Murdoch.
There is no news of any Liberal Democrat changes yet.
10:50
Chris Grayling, not a particular fan of the Human Rights Act and the man who said that B and B owners should not be obliged to accommodate gay couples if they didn’t approve, replaces new Justice Secretary.
Justine Greening is now in Downing Street amid speculation that she’ll be removed from Transport for being too opposed to a third runway at Heathrow.
11:08
A smiling Jeremy Hunt emerges from No 10 saying his promotion to Health Secretary is the biggest privilege of his life. Presumably it’s thought that if he could talk his way out of the issues around Murdoch, for which his Special Adviser had to resign, that he could make a better job of convincing people that the NHS reforms are not the end of civilisation as we know it.
11:49
Patrick McCloughlin is to replace the anti third runway Justine Greening as Transport Secretary.
12:15
Mark Pack writes… Interesting change at the Home Office with Theresa May’s woman and equalities brief being taken over by new DCMS Secretary of State, Maria Miller.
As for how to judge the Lib Dem changes when they are all in, here are my four criteria.
12:23
Paul Walter writes… I was tempted to say that this is basically a reshuffle to get rid of people who have cocked things up. But then Jeremy Hunt was appointed Health Secretary….
It would have been good news if Andrew Lansley had left Health well over a year ago. Now, it is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
It is shame that Ken Clarke is leaving Justice, though he was always a bonus for the Lib Dems, and will at least still be in cabinet.
We should take satisfaction that all four Lib Dem cabinet ministers stay as they are, but not too much satisfaction as this reflects the fact that 50% of our post holders – Laws and Huhne – had to leave previously.
12:25
Paul Walter writes… David Jones is the new Welsh Secretary. Adam Boulton of Sky News cheerfully admitted earlier today that he ddidn’t know what Mr Jones looks like. Presumably he has since Googled him….
12:26
Paul Walter writes… Cameron has done quite a skilful job to keep the female/male balance in the cabinet, although still not enough women, by bringing in Maria Miller and Theresa Villiers. Gillan and Spelman left. Warsi is “attending cabinet” but down a peg from what I can see.
12:31
Paul Walter writes… All this is not good news for opposition to Heathrow expansion. Greening was opposed. McLoughlin, who replaces her at transport, is said to be “open minded”.
12:33
Paul Walter writes… Grant Schapps is new Chairman of the Tory party. Hopefully he has changed his password by now (old in-joke – sorry).
12:34
Paul Walter writes… A beaut of a quote from Matthew Parris via the BBC:
Former Tory MP Matthew Parris says that David Cameron is not rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic but on “a rather leisurely cruise around the Mediterranean”
12:40
Paul Walter writes… It has to be barking mad to make a non-lawyer Lord Chancellor and Minister for Justice. Just crazy. But – ho-hum – time will tell.
12:41
Paul Walter writes…We now appear to be moving into the non-cabinet ministry posts. At the moment, all the runes are pointing to Sarah Teather leaving Education and being replaced by David Laws. There is also the likelihood of Jo Swinson coming into government somewhere. It would be good if there was a Lib Dem minister at DEFRA, IMHO. We can all hope…
12:44
Paul Walter again… Esther McVey, Helen Grant and Anna Soubry are tipped for government roles.
12:47
Paul again… The Guardian has a full list of the runners and riders so far here, with the exception of the update that Grant Schapps is the new Chairman of the Conservative Party.
12:50
Paul again… The portfolio of women and equalities portfolio has moved to Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke, who also becomes Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This leaves a question mark over Lynne Featherstone. There was a rumour that Lynne was going to swop roles with Jeremy Browne at the Foreign Office.
12:54
Paul again…The BBC reports that Boris Johnson has said that it shows that the government is committed to the “simply mad” policy of a new third runway at Heathrow. Interesting stuff…
12:56
Paul again…+++BREAKING+++ Sky sources confirm that David Laws will be Education Minister.
12:59
Paul again….From the BBC:
BBC Wales Political Editor Betsan Powys writes on her blog that, perhaps surprisingly, the new Welsh Secretary is the first Jones in the job.
13:07
Paul again…From the BBC:
Lib Dem MP Andrew George says his party is “reassured” that Ken Clarke is remaining in the cabinet. He says Andrew Lansley has left a “catastrophe” at the Department of Health and he hopes Jeremy Hunt will be a “new broom”.
13:15
Paul again… The indications are that Labour will kick up quite a fuss about Jeremy Hunt’s promotion. One has to ask, does Hunt have some incriminating photos of David Cameron stashed away in a bottom drawer somewhere?
13:31
Paul again… Oliver Heald is replacing Edward Garnier as solicitor general, according to Sky.
13:32
Paul again… Nick Clegg is appearing on TV shaking hands outside the Cabinet Office with David Laws. Nice one.
13:35
Paul again… Zac Goldsmith is not happy with developments concerning the Heathrow expansion issue. He has tweeted:
Greening’s appointment 11 months ago indicated the PM’s position on Heathrow was solid. Yielding so easily suggests panic, not principle.
13:38
Paul again… One glimmer of hope from this reshuffle. Perhaps David Laws will be able to give Michael Gove what for at Education… We can only hope!
13:39
Paul again… Paul Waugh has tweeted:
This is 1st Cabinet for 15 years that lacks a non-white Cabinet minister. What happened to Cam plan to target the ethnic vote?
13:41
Paul again… Mark Ferguson on LabourList highlights some past quotes from David Laws which may indicate that he will be a strong counter-weight to Michael Gove at Education.
Stephen Tall writes… (2.28 pm)
The Prime Minister who reshuffles always upsets the sacked — but David Cameron is also antagonising the current darling of the Tory right, Boris Johnson, who has hit out at David Cameron’s decision to move Justine Greening from Transport seemingly as a prelude to pushing for a third Heathrow runway:
There can be only one reason to move her – and that is to expand Heathrow Airport. It is simply mad to build a new runway in the middle of west London. Nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe live in the vicinity of Heathrow. Now it is clear that the government wants to ditch its promises and send yet more planes over central London.
And another Tory – MP for Richmond Zac Goldsmith – is just as apoplectic:
Greening’s appointment 11 months ago indicated the PM’s position on Heathrow was solid.Yielding so easily suggests panic, not principle.
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) September 4, 2012
Zac of course has previously threatened to trigger a David Davis-style by-election if the Tories’ dump another manifesto / Coalition Agreement promise, and also vowed not to re-stand as a Conservative if the party includes a commitment to a third Heathrow runway in its 2015 manifesto.
Stephen Tall writes… (2.39 pm)
News starting to filter through of the changes among Lib Dem ministers:
Norman Lamb REPLACES Paul Burstow as Health minister — Norman was of course the party’s health spokesman until 2010 and was reputedly blocked from being appointed to the post then by… Andrew Lansley, now departed. So a completely fresh team at the Health department. I’ll skip the too-easy punning you can do on Hunt and Lamb.
Jo Swinson REPLACES Norman Lamb at Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Vince Cable’s department. No surprise to see Jo get a well-deserved promotion; a bit more of a surprise to see Norman leave Vince’s department after only five months (he was drafted in to replace Ed Davey when he was promoted to the cabinet following Chris Huhne’s enforced departure… are you still with me?).
And an update on David Laws’ role — though he replaces Sarah Teather (leaving government to spend more time in her wafer-thin marginal seat in Brent) as schools minister, his brief is likely to be more wide-ranging. In other words, while he’s unofficially been licenced to rove by Nick Clegg since his departure from the cabinet in May 2010, now he will officially be licenced to rove.
Stephen Tall writes… (2.55 pm)
Here’s a surprise: Nick Harvey is to leave the post of Armed Forces minister. Here’s how Western Morning News journalist Graeme Demianyk broke it:
North Devon MP Nick Harvey announces to leave as Armed Forces Minister
— Graeme Demianyk (@GraemeDemianyk) September 4, 2012
Devon Lib Dem MP Nick Harvey on being dumped from MoD: “Strategic political decision to ‘trade’ this post for one in another department.”
— Graeme Demianyk (@GraemeDemianyk) September 4, 2012
It sounds like Nick Clegg has reasoned Nick Harvey has done enough in his two years in the defence department to thwart the Tories’ hopes of an automatic renewal of Trident without consideration of any alternatives — as a result, the Lib Dems are better placed using one of their allocation of ministerial positions in another department. This is what the Indy’s Matt Chorley speculates:
Does LibDems giving up Defence (and Trident battle?) mean a swoop for DCMS place to influence Leveson outcome?
#reshuffle— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) September 4, 2012
Meanwhile, overseeing the Trident review from the Lib Dem perspective will fall within the ‘roving’ part of David Laws’ brief. He’s a tough negotiator who won’t let Tory hopes of throwing money at out-moded defence systems slip through.
Stephen Tall writes… (3.10 pm)
David Heath moves to become a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from the post of deputy leader of the House of Commons — a much better role for the Somerton and Frome MP to campaign from and defend his always-marginal seat.
* Caron Lindsay is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings