The reshuffle seems to have gone down reasonably well with Tory MPs – though there is as yet still no position for Nadhim Zahawi or Jesse Norman, which some think rather odd. The pair organised the Lords rebellion and are both able and bright. But Norman in particular may be in a bit of a Kevin Pietersen-style situation in that he has, in Number 10’s eyes, blown more than one chance. It wasn’t just his organisation of the Lords rebellion but his mysterious absence on the day of the Syria vote. It may be that the Tory leadership have decided that there is a ‘trust issue’ there. This will still jar with many in the Parliamentary party, who look up to Norman.
Other Tory MPs are unimpressed with the treatment of Grant Shapps, sent off to be a Minister of State without any rights to visit Cabinet at the International Development department. It seemed, one complained to me yesterday, a rather pointed move given Shapps has never expressed any interest in aid before (though ‘Stinking Rich 3’ might come in handy for some cash-strapped developing countries) and given he has been attending Cabinet for years.
Shapps himself put out a rather odd statement on the appointment yesterday. It included these lines:
‘Grant, who was re-elected as MP for Welwyn Hatfield in last week’s general election, had previously been the Chairman of the Conservative Party since September 2012 where he played a key role in the run up to the Conservatives’ historic win. ‘After the reshuffle was announced Grant said, “Having spent two years and eight months battling at the coal face in order to try to win an overall Conservative majority government, last Thursday’s result was obviously pretty historic. However, I’m the first to say that my time as Chairman was never the easiest position to hold, because it was also the most political post in the government. As a result, you take a lot of brickbats – some deserved, others less so.’
What ‘brickbats’ could he be referring to?
Of course, Shapps is a bit of a marmite character, and a number of Tories were sharpening their knives against him after the latest round of allegations about his business activities. Others are annoyed that he never managed to get a database running that actually worked (indeed, it crashed on polling day). They are thrilled at what they see as a humiliating and deserved demotion.
Overall, though, this appears to have been a reshuffle where a number of seats are being kept warm for rising stars a little later in the Parliament. Michael Fallon, Philip Hammond, Iain Duncan Smith and so on may only stay in their jobs until the next shuffle, in order to let slightly more junior Cabinet colleagues prove themselves. This will in turn open up more jobs below, which will keep a number of Tory MPs keen. But some who have been expecting a promotion for a while may conclude that their chance is gone.
Comments