Javid quits as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sunak is given the job

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Sajid Javid has resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) on the day Johnson carried out a Cabinet reshuffle. He has been replaced by Rishi Sunak

Cabinet reshuffle: Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor

Rishi Sunak is the new Chancellor of the Exchequer

Sajid Javid has shocked Westminster by quitting as chancellor in the middle of Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Javid rejected the prime minister's order to fire his team of aides, saying "no self-respecting minister" could accept such a condition.

He has been replaced as chancellor by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak - who just seven months ago was a junior housing minister.

Mr Javid had been due to deliver his first Budget in four weeks' time.

The former home secretary was appointed chancellor by Mr Johnson when he became prime minister in July.

His resignation follows rumours of tensions between Mr Javid and the prime minister's senior adviser Dominic Cummings.

Mr Javid said his advisers had worked "incredibly hard" and he could not agree to them being replaced.

"I felt I was left with no option but to resign," he said, adding that Mr Sunak and the rest of the government retained his "full support".

In his resignation letter, Mr Javid explained that he could not accept the PM's conditions saying: "I believe it is important as leaders to have trusted teams that reflect the character and integrity that you would wish to be associated with."

Downing Street said there would now be a joint team of economic advisers for both the chancellor and prime minister.

In other reshuffle moves:

Former Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay becomes chief secretary to the Treasury

Paymaster General Oliver Dowden is culture secretary, replacing Baroness Morgan

Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith has been replaced by Home Office Minister Brandon Lewis

Amanda Milling replaces James Cleverly as minister without portfolio and the Conservative Party chairman

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Housing Minister Esther McVey are out of government

Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers is sacked and replaced by George Eustice, who resigned as a minister last year over Theresa May's Brexit plans

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was asked to resign by the PM. He is replaced by former Brexit Minister Suella Braverman

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma has been appointed business secretary and minister for the upcoming climate conference COP26, in Glasgow.

He is being replaced at the international development department by Armed Forces minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

There is a return to government for former Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who becomes paymaster general.

Meanwhile, Mr Cleverly is made a joint minister in the Foreign Office and Department for International Development.

Cabinet members remaining in place include Home Secretary Priti Patel; Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab; Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove; Health Secretary Matt Hancock; International Trade Secretary Liz Truss; Transport Secretary Grant Shapps; Defence Secretary Ben Wallace; Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg; and Chief Whip Mark Spencer.

The reshuffle reduces the number of women in the full cabinet from seven to six.

Mr Johnson is expected to appoint a new minister to oversee the building of the HS2 rail line, final approval for which was given this week.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51491662

 

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The victorious Vote Leave campaign is now the British Government...

Boris has tightened his iron grip on government

James Forsyth
13 February 2020
The Spectator

This is the LDC reshuffle: loyalty, discipline and competence. Number 10 wants to ensure this government is all singing from the same hymn sheet. The desire for a joint Number 10 / 11 operation is the product of that. Sajid Javid’s refusal to sign up to the scheme made Number 10 think he wasn’t on board with this, which led to his resignation.

This joint Number 10 / 11 operation creates a very powerful force at the centre of government. Number 10, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office are now effectively yoked together. Under this set-up, no department will have any chance of resisting what the centre wants. Expect this new power base to focus relentlessly on delivery, with departments being hauled over coals on their progress – or, lack thereof – on delivering the Tories’ manifesto commitments.

Looking at the rest of the reshuffle you can see the LDC theme. Anne-Marie Trevelyan becomes Secretary of State for International Development. She is a Brexiteer and was a whip for Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign. She was also one of the MPs who most impressed Dominic Cummings during the referendum. I suspect that she will be quite happy to shift the UK’s aid spending in a more strategic direction, bringing it into line with the UK’s foreign policy priorities.

Oliver Dowden is the new Culture Secretary. Dowden is uber-competent, knows how Whitehall works—he was Cameron’s deputy chief of staff and is uninterested in creating a profile for himself which makes him pretty much Number 10’s ideal minister.

Suella Braverman as Attorney General is an intriguing appointment. It suggests that Number 10 really is prepared to take on the courts over issues such as judicial review. Braverman, as her recent comments have shown, is keen to rebalance the relationship between parliament and the judiciary. The judges will not take this lying down.

The new Environment Secretary George Eustice will be the most popular appointment of the reshuffle. He’s a farmer by trade and a former fisheries minister so knows the brief extremely well. He will also be able to balance the interests of the animal welfare wing of the Tory Party with those of the agricultural lobby.

Brandon Lewis replaces Julian Smith at the Northern Ireland Office. Lewis was one of the few ministers trusted to do the full media rounds during the campaign and his promotion is a reward for that. Having been security minister, he’ll be well placed to handle that aspect of the brief. But the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol will be a major challenge.

The former Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay takes Rishi Sunak’s old job as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Barclay is a safe pair of hands, a former Treasury Minister and a former Social Care Minister, which could turn out to be very important given that the government will need an answer to that problem this parliament.

What we are seeing now is a new way of governing. An all-powerful centre will try and drive things through. With Leavers in Number 10, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office there is also going to be unanimity on Brexit and the future trade deal with the EU.
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2020/02/boris-has-tightened-his-iron-grip-on-government/