As the dust settles after the recent reshuffle, those lucky politicians who survived the Sunak cull will be engaged in self-congratulation and reconciling themselves with the new regime. For some, there is high office, with all its fruits and delights: for others there is disappointment, dismay and the consolation prize of a sinecure. How, for instance, will the government cope now it has lost Gavin Williamson, the minister of state without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, whose weighty responsibilities included such duties as the Geospatial Commission and the Government Property Agency?
Had he survived, Williamson might have earned himself the infamous moniker of ‘Minister for Paperclips’. That honour instead might have to go to Ben Wallace, whose Ministry of Defence has just spent more than £640,000 on supplies with www.banneruk.com in a single month, a company who describe themselves as being able to ‘trace its origins back to Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), which was founded in 1786; providing print related supplies for government offices across the country.’ Still, with the country in the midst a cost-of-living crisis, we can be grateful for small mercies: with Wallace remaining in place post-reshuffle, there is no need at least to change the name at the top of the department’s letterhead.
Talk about keeping it all together, eh?
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