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Cameron's reshuffle: who's in, who's out?

Full details of the Prime Minister's first major reshuffle as they emerge.

Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron. Photograph: Getty Images.
David Cameron will announce full details of his cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday afternoon. Photograph: Getty Images.

After months of speculation, David Cameron's first major cabinet reshuffle began last night. Here's what we know so far.

15:36 Tory deputy chairman Michael Fallon, renowned as the party's attack-dog-in-chief, has been made minister of state for business. Tory MPs will hope he'll act as a powerful counterweight to Vince Cable.

15:00 Elsewhere on The Staggers, Frances Crook, the chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has posted on why she'll miss having Ken Clarke as Justice Secretary. Clarke was making good on the promise of a "rehabilitation revolution", she says.

14:14 Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, who blogged yesterday on The Staggers on why the government should not support a third runway at Heathrow, has added his voice to those criticising the removal of Greening as Transport Secretary.

He commented on Twitter: "Greening’s appointment 11 months ago indicated the PM’s position on Heathrow was solid. Yielding so easily suggests panic, not principle."

13:42 Boris Johnson has criticised the removal of Justine Greening as Transport Secretary as confirmation that the government is intent on building a third runway at Heathrow, a policy that he described as "simply mad".

Courtesy of PoliticsHome, here's the full quote from his Sky News interview.

There can be only one reason to move her - and that is to expand Heathrow Airport. It is simply mad to build a new runway in the middle of west London. Nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe live in the vicinity of Heathrow.

Now it is clear that the government wants to ditch its promises and send yet more planes over central London. The third runway would mean more traffic, more noise, more pollution - and a serious reduction in the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people. We will fight this all the way.

13:11 With the remaining vacancies now filled, we've just published a full list of the new cabinet here.

12:28 It's worth noting that the five Liberal Democrat cabinet ministers (Nick Clegg, Danny Alexander, Vince Cable, Michael Moore and Ed Davey) have all remained in their current posts. However, as expected, David Laws, who became the cabinet's first casualty when he resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in May 2010, has returned to government as an education minister. Simon Hughes is reported to have turned down a ministerial post in order to remain as the party's deputy leader.

12:20 We've just had another flurry of announcements as the reshuffle is finalised.

As expected, Grant Shapps has been named as the new Conservative chairman. He will attend cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.

Maria Miller, currently the minister for disabled people, has joined the cabinet as Culture Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities.

Justine Greening, who was removed as Transport Secretary, is the new International Development Secretary.

12:12 We've been in touch with New Statesman legal correspondent David Allen Green to get his take on Chris Grayling's promotion to Justice Secretary. Here's what he had to say.

Grayling is a disappointing choice as Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.  This is not because he is the first non-lawyer since Tudor times to hold the post of Lord Chancellor but because in a number of statements he shows no understanding of the principles of equality and fairness.  The criminal justice system is already in crisis.  The appointment of a mere sloganeer can only make things worse.

11:53 Following Sayeeda Warsi's removal as Conservative co-chairman, it's been announced that she will take up a new dual role as senior Foreign Office minister and minister for faith and communities. She will continue to attend cabinet.

11:40 As I've commented on Twitter, Cameron's decision to move Hunt to health is the biggest gamble of his reshuffle. The media will be after his scalp from the start and they'll be plenty of bad news stories from the NHS. But Hunt - personable, telegenic, socially liberal - is the archetypal Cameroon and the PM's decision to promote him is an assertion of his authority.

11:35 Owen Paterson, formerly Northern Ireland Secretary, has been named as the new Environment Secretary, while outgoing Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin replaces Justine Greening at Transport.

11:28 I've blogged on Chris Grayling's promotion to Justice Secretary here, pointing out why he was left out of Cameron's first cabinet: he defended the right of B&B owners to turn away gay couples.

11:04 In defiance of Jeremy Hunt's many critics, Cameron has just named him as the new Health Secretary.

10:45 Again via Twitter, Downing Street has just confirmed Chris Grayling as the new Justice Secretary.

10:31 The Downing Street Twitter feed has just named transport minister Theresa Villiers as the new Northern Ireland Secretary. The current incumbent, Owen Paterson, a favourite of the eurosceptic right, is in line for a promotion.

10:27 In the most significant move of the reshuffle so far, Andrew Lansley has been removed as Health Secretary and will become Leader of the House of Commons.

10:17 ConservativeHome are reporting that Chris Grayling, currently welfare minister, is set to be named as the new Justice Secretary.

09:29 Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith will remain in their respective posts as Education Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary. Duncan Smith was reportedly offered Justice but, unsurprisingly, declined. He has previously said that Work and Pensions is the only job he wants to do in government and his defining policy, the Universal Credit, won't be implemented until 2013.

Similarly, it would have been odd to move Gove, also hailed by the right as crusading reformer, before his education reforms are complete.

Gove and Duncan Smith join George Osborne, William Hague, Theresa May and Vince Cable as those certain to remain in their current jobs.

08:35 Michael Fallon, the current Tory deputy chairman, has been seen walking into No 10. Along with Grant Shapps, he has long been cited as a possible replacement for Warsi as chairman. When asked if he had been awarded her job, he smiled, according to the BBC's Norman Smith.

07:18 Cheryl Gillan has left her post as Welsh Secretary after Conservative MPs called for someone representing a Welsh constituency to do the job (the Tories currently hold eight Welsh seats). In what has been dubbed the first "Twitter reshuffle", Gillan signalled her departure by removing the words "Secretary of State for Wales" from her bio on the site.

Andrew Mitchell has been named as the new Chief Whip after leaving his post as International Development Secretary. He replaces Patrick McLoughlin, who is tipped to become Transport Secretary. David Cameron said: "As chief whip, Andrew will ensure strong support for our radical legislative programme, by working hard to win the argument in the Commons as well as playing a big role in the No 10 team. He will be invaluable as the Government embarks on the next, vital phase of its mission to restore our economy to growth and reform our public services."

Despite a late appeal for Cameron to save her job, Sayeeda Warsi has been removed as Conservative co-chairman. She confirmed her departure via Twitter late last night and is expected to be replaced by housing minister Grant Shapps.

Ken Clarke, the man known as the "sixth Liberal Democrat cabinet minister", has been removed as Justice Secretary but is expected to remain in the Cabinet, most likely as minister without portfolio.

Caroline Spelman has been removed as Environment Secretary and will leave the cabinet.

14 comments

Pamela Gavan                's picture

Dear Mr Cameron Prime Minister
Why on earth has Tim Loughton been reshuffled out of the government?. I have voted for Conservative since I was 21 years (in 1956 ) and with a few exceptions I have kept pretty strongly in the views that I have held of the Conservative s
Getting to the reason for this contact.long before Tim was elected as an MP he has always been a greatly active in what he has believed. Our local papers have always been full of his interests in what is good for our area. The ONLY reason that we have done so well in recent times is because of Tim . In May this year I was voted in as a Parish Councillor I only hope that in my small way I will be just as dedicated as Tim has been
Regards
Mrs Pamela Gavan
a very disappointed unhappy Conservative

matthew fox's picture

Lansley was supposed to be the expert on the NHS, that was the rationale for his appointment.

IDS refused to budge the DWP, so Cameron backed down.

A odd reshuffle, creating so many headlines for the wrong reasons.

Seti's picture

OK, OK, it was quite a good joke. But who is REALLY going to be the new Health Secretary?

Seti's picture

OK, OK, it was a pretty good joke. But who is REALLY going to be the new Health Secretary?

Seti's picture

OK, OK, it was a pretty good joke. But who is REALLY going to be the new Health Secretary?

Ray North's picture

If a reshuffle aims to (1) remove the incompetent and unhelpful ministers; (2) correct bad departmental policy; (3) promote talent from the backbenches; (4) show the PM to be a strong and energetic leader - has this this reshuffle achieved anything?
No.

 union steve's picture

Captain George Smith Osborne is still plottig his course straight for the iceberg, as for the deck chair arrangers.......................

ansgt's picture

Wonder what happened to Justine Greening? she might be young but she needs the experience and seemed to be doing a nice job as Transport... weird. Hunt should be removed from cabinet totally!

Celeriac's picture

'Hunt - personable, telegenic'
-------------
Yes, if you admire public school boys.

Hikaru22's picture

Hague should have been sacked for the Ecuadorean Embassy fiasco - for first issuing a threat to lift their diplomatic immunity and send in the police, and then pretending that no such threat had ever been made. Of course, none of it was anything to do with what the Americans wanted (i.e. they want Assange). I suspect that whatever reputation Hague might previously have enjoyed for competence and integrity, has already been scuttled.

May should have been removed for her complete failure to stand up for the interests of British citizens - Gary McKinnon and Richard O'Dwyer - in the face of US demands for their extradition, the latter for 'copyright infringement'. We have been saddled with a 'rotten' extradition system which neither she, nor the government, has done anything to sort out. In my view, Parliament should simply rescind the US/UK Extradition Treaty in its entirety. Better no extradition arrangements at all, than rotten ones.

George Eaton:

"In defiance of Jeremy Hunt's many critics, Cameron has just named him as the new Health Secretary."

No doubt he will be looking for the first opportunity to sell off the health service to News Corp.

M .Wenzl's picture

Hunt as Health Secretary! My God, what a miscalculation. So not only has Hunt been promoted to hold one of the government's main briefs, the very brief that required a safe pair of hands to downplay the damage done by Lansley has been passed to the Minister who has the most volatile record in the coalition!

Swavesey Sage's picture

About as useful as rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic!

Herbert's picture

What an original cliche! I think I've only heard it two million times.

Barrie J's picture

..............like this is going to make any difference?
Just different snouts line up for their turn in the trough and they told us they were going to restore people's faith in politicians.
I thought political satire was dead.

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