UK PM reshuffles cabinet
LONDON : There were no major surprises as Prime Minister Theresa May began tweaking her cabinet on Monday in a year that will see defining talks on UK leaving the European Union.
May, who had a difficult 2017 when she lost both the Conservative party’s majority in the general election and three cabinet ministers, hopes to give a fresh look to her team. Downing Street called it a “refresh of her ministerial team”, but key ministers responsible for Brexit talks – David Davis, Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond – remained unchanged in their posts.
Home secretary Amber Rudd too was retained.
There was speculation that two Indian-origin Conservative MPs, Rishi Sunak and Suella Fernandes, would be inducted as junior ministers to give wider representation to ethnic minorities. Both were first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2017.
MP Rehman Chisti, a former advisor to late Pakistan People’s Party leader Benzair Bhutto, was named one of nine new vice-chairpersons of the ruling party. He shares the communities role with Helen Grant.
Britain is expected to leave the EU by March 29, 2019, which makes 2018 a crucial year to put in place several legislative and other measures, including norms for the post-Brexit stay of 3 million EU citizens and about 1.5 million Britons in EU countries. Justice secretary David Lidlington was made Cabinet Office minister, a post held until recently by May’s confidante Damian Green, who was sacked following a row over his accessing porn on office computers.