A tough day but Mrs May is still in charge

IF yesterday’s reshuffle showed us anything, it was Theresa May’s determination to put the disasters and disappointments of 2017 behind her and move her party into the new year with a fresh sense of purpose.

It was never going to be an easy day. Her authority weakened by losing her majority, Mrs May had to revitalise her team more by persuasion and cajoling than cold command. But though all her biggest beasts remained in post, there were crucial changes.

Her overhaul of the internal Tory machine – with energetic immigration minister Brandon Lewis taking over as party chairman – is a long-overdue recognition that grassroots Conservatism is in crisis. Membership is plummeting and many constituency associations are all but moribund. While Labour has successfully courted a new generation of voters – not least by manipulating social media – the Tories are manifestly failing to get their message across. If they are to compete in the next election, this must change.

There are also important indications of Mrs May’s ambitious policy platform beyond Brexit. By expanding Jeremy Hunt’s health brief to encompass social care, she shows she has not given up on creating a system where the elderly don’t clog up much-needed hospital beds simply because there’s nowhere else they can go.

She had considered moving Mr Hunt but – to his credit – he successfully argued that he should stay on and finish a job he started five years ago. Adding housing to Sajid Javid’s Communities and Local Government ministry demonstrates her urgent commitment to building more homes. And the removal of lacklustre Justine Greening from education signalled a renewed initiative to drive up school standards.

Miss Greening’s refusal to accept a move to Work and Pensions made her the day’s most high-profile departure and she may now join the ranks of rebellious ex-ministers on the back benches. But she’s no great loss to the Cabinet.

So for all the sneering of Remainers and the hubristic boast of Jeremy Corbyn that she would be out by Christmas, Mrs May remains firmly in Downing Street.

She may not yet be exactly ‘strong and stable’. But this reshuffle shows she’s determined to get on with the job of governing Britain.