David Cameron has given his government a transfusion of Toryism. He has announced significant changes at the lower level of his cabinet, and an extensive reshuffle of the entire government is still underway, but there have been no changes at the very top of government and, on the crucial issue of the economy, he has indicated that he intends to press ahead with George Osborne’s deficit reduction strategy. But he has appointed an economic development minister. At the start of the day I said that journalists enjoy reshuffles because they involve personality soap opera. But the appointment that really seems to excite Number 10 the most involves someone unknown outside the business world: Paul Deighton, the former Goldman Sachs executive who ran LOCOG. He has now got the job of ensuring that Osborne’s infrastructure investment programme rescues the economy.
• The Conservative wing of the government - which is most of the government - has become more traditional, more Eurosceptic, more authoritarian. In other words, more rightwing. At least, that is the impression given by the changes announced so far. The shift is not dramatic, but it is noticeable. As I said earlier, it could mark the moment when Cameron’s Conservative modernisation project was finally dispatched and put out of its misery,. At the top, the government has also become more male and white, but junior appointments are expected to compensate for that.
• Cameron has embarked on a fairly extensive clear out at junior ministerial level. We have not seen the full list yet, but it is clear that this reshuffle will involve quite extensive personnel changes. In his book about Tony Blair’s government, Jonathan Powell, Blair’s chief of staff, said: “A prime minister should always err on the side of sacking more people and bringing on more young talent faster.” Cameron seems to be following his advice.
• Cameron is clearing the decks for a U-turn on Heathrow. Although the reshuffle does not mark a change of economic course - which is why, in the long run, it may turn out not to matter much - the replacement of Justine Greening as transport secretary does not make sense unless you accept that Cameron wants to have the option of backing a third runway in the next Tory manifesto (despite what Downing Street are saying). It is also possible that the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as health secretary could lead to the Health Act reforms being watered down, although No 10 are not saying that and at this stage we don’t know how Hunt will choose to handle the portfolio.
• The Conservative wing of the government - which is most of the government - has become more traditional, more Eurosceptic, more authoritarian. In other words, more rightwing. At least, that is the impression given by the changes announced so far. The shift is not dramatic, but it is noticeable. As I said earlier, it could mark the moment when Cameron’s Conservative modernisation project was finally dispatched and put out of its misery,. At the top, the government has also become more male and white, but junior appointments are expected to compensate for that.
• Cameron has embarked on a fairly extensive clear out at junior ministerial level. We have not seen the full list yet, but it is clear that this reshuffle will involve quite extensive personnel changes. In his book about Tony Blair’s government, Jonathan Powell, Blair’s chief of staff, said: “A prime minister should always err on the side of sacking more people and bringing on more young talent faster.” Cameron seems to be following his advice.
• Cameron is clearing the decks for a U-turn on Heathrow. Although the reshuffle does not mark a change of economic course - which is why, in the long run, it may turn out not to matter much - the replacement of Justine Greening as transport secretary does not make sense unless you accept that Cameron wants to have the option of backing a third runway in the next Tory manifesto (despite what Downing Street are saying). It is also possible that the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as health secretary could lead to the Health Act reforms being watered down, although No 10 are not saying that and at this stage we don’t know how Hunt will choose to handle the portfolio.
