Ministers fear reshuffle soon
Industrial Strategy. She is also keen to bring more women into senior roles and some longer serving male ministers will be expected to give way.
Some ministers question whether Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has stated that he sees his role as his last significant Government job, may be ready to move on. Others wonder whether Sajid Javid, once tipped as a potential future Tory leader, can survive at the Department for Communities following the angry row over the presentation of plans for an overhaul of business rates. Whatever her intentions, ministers are already getting the message that Mrs May will not shy away from making changes or wielding the axe.
Downing Street aides were delighted with the Prime Minister’s authoritative handling of the triggering of the Article 50 EU exit clause this week. She showed her stamina with three hours and 21 minutes at the Commons Dispatch Box – the longest stint by any prime minister in modern political history – before facing a half-hour live television inquisition with BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil.
“It knocks on the head this idea that she doesn’t like scrutiny and doesn’t want people to question her,” said one senior source. Her team view this week as a triumph for the strategy of focusing on the substance and ignoring the day-to-day Westminster hubbub. “When we have stuff to say, we will say it. When we don’t, we will be silent,” the source added.
Tory MPs believe the historic events of the last week have confirmed that Mrs May is the commander-in-chief the nation needs in challenging times. Backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg even compared her with Queen Elizabeth I, hailing her in the Commons as a “21st-century Gloriana”. Cabinet insiders expect her to demonstrate the same assured command as the Tudor monarch in keeping her ministers on their mettle this summer.