Why the cabinet reshuffle might not be so radical after all

Prime ministers are never more powerful than just before a cabinet reshuffle. Ministers fall over themselves to be helpful, hoping to secure their position or move up the pecking order. Backbenchers start hailing the Prime Minister’s every decision as an act of firm and enlightened leadership. This spectacle is underway ahead of next month’s well-trailed reshuffle, which has already been dubbed the ‘Valentine’s Day Massacre’ by Whitehall wags.

It is not just the reshuffle that is propelling Boris Johnson towards the peak of his political powers. He has an 80-seat majority at his back. And with all the talk of reform, government departments are similarly keen to demonstrate their worth to No. 10.

This new, more obliging approach was on full display at cabinet on Tuesday. When Theresa May was home secretary and Ken Clarke was justice secretary, she used to joke that she ‘locked them up and he let ’em out’. There was a truth behind this gag; an institutional tension existed between the two departments. But at this week’s cabinet, their successors, Priti Patel and Robert Buckland, were in harmony as they discussed how to cut violent crime — which Buckland described as ‘basic hygiene’ for a Tory government.

The discussion that followed was more substantial than most cabinet discussions. Nicky Morgan, the Culture Secretary, pointed out that the most common time for knife crime to be committed is between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. In other words, this is a problem to do with the young rather than an issue that needs more late-night policing.

Sajid Javid, who since the election has shown an ability to anticipate what No. 10 is going to want and propose it himself, then suggested that there should be a Cobra-style committee to help deliver on this policy.