May changes cabinet to broaden appeal
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May named a new head of the ruling Conservatives yesterday in a reshuffle aimed at handing her government a fresh start after months of divisions over Brexit, scandals and an ill-judged election.
May, weakened by the loss of the Conservatives’ majority in June’s election gamble, moved to make changes to her team of top ministers after ending last year with a deal to shift talks with the European Union (EU) to a second phase.
She kept her “big beasts” – the finance, Brexit, foreign and interior ministers – but is promoting women, black and younger politicians to challenge critics who call her party “male, pale and stale”.
Appointing immigration minister Brandon Lewis and MP James Cleverly to become the chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of the Conservatives was part of her strategy to reassert her authority over the party and to try to broaden its reach.
May is also keen to strengthen her hand in talks with the EU to unravel more than 40 years of union and in parliament, where she depends on the support of a Northern Irish party. “I’m not a quitter. I’m in this for the long term,” May said on Sunday, a new mantra from a prime minister who has been mocked in the media for her dogged repetition of catchphrases and policy statements.
Despite winning agreement from the EU to push Brexit talks to a discussion of future trade relations and a transitional deal, May has been criticised at home for her approach to healthcare, housing and transport among other issues.
In a blow, her minister for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, stepped down because of ill-health.
He had been trying to help officials form a power-sharing government to avoid any return to violence between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists that scarred the province for decades.
Brexit Minister David Davis, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, Finance Minister Philip Hammond and Interior Minister Amber Rudd all kept their positions, while David Lidington was appointed to become minister for the cabinet office, replacing May’s closest friend in parliament, Damian Green, who had been forced to resign.
But the biggest change so far was the appointment of Lewis to head the Conservatives, whose membership is plummeting after what many acknowledge was a disastrous election campaign in June.
The main opposition Labour Party, under the leadership of leftist politician Jeremy Corbyn, is enjoying some of the highest numbers of support in its history.
It will now fall to Lewis, 46, and new deputy Cleverly, to provide the leadership needed to attract younger voters and if the governing party is to have a chance to win the next election in 2022. May’s shake-up began with a humiliating blunder – a new party chairman was announced on Twitter, only for the tweet to be deleted and another man named.
Chairman Patrick McLoughlin’s replacement was announced on Twitter, only for the tweet to be quickly deleted and for Lewis to be confirmed. – Reuters, AFP