Sturgeon’s shake-up! SNP’s big names set for axe in reshuf f le
NICOLA Sturgeon is expected to unveil her most wide-ranging reshuffle since becoming First Minister in an effort to re-energise her top team.
Health Secretary Shona Robison is among those thought to be at risk in a Cabinet shake-up ahead of parliament’s summer recess, which begins on Friday.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing and Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham are also believed to be vulnerable.
Miss Sturgeon could use any reshuffle to freshen up her top team by promoting junior ministers such as Social Security Minister Jeanne Freeman or Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.
She could also give ministerial posts to some of her 2016 intake of MSPs, such as Kate Forbes or Mairi Gougeon.
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: ‘Given their dire performance it’s no wonder Nicola Sturgeon is thinking of axing some of the dead wood.
‘The problem is that this SNP Government is out of ideas and underperforming, and no amount of tinkering with personnel is going to fix that.’
The SNP-supporting Sunday Herald newspaper yesterday claimed that three SNP insiders had said drastic changes to the Cabinet will be unveiled tomorrow.
The Scottish Government yesterday refused to confirm or deny the speculation.
Opposition MSPs claimed to be aware a shake-up is imminent ahead of the close of the present parliamentary term.
Any reshuffle would give ministers the summer to get used to their roles before returning to parliament in September.
It would also allow them to come up with new ideas before Miss Sturgeon unveils her programme for government early in the autumn.
The Sunday Herald claimed Miss Sturgeon would create new ministerial roles in a move to ‘extend her empire’, which would add to costs which have soared already under the SNP.
Although Miss Sturgeon is unlikely to sack her close friend Miss Robison, she is expected to face a ‘sideways move’.
She has presided over a deteriorating performance in many areas of health, while NHS Tayside, which serves her local patch in Dundee, is in crisis.
Miss Freeman, who is well regarded within the SNP, has been touted as a possible replacement for Miss Robison in health. There has also been speculation that Justice Secretary Michael Matheson may be moved to health.
Miss Sturgeon would need to secure parliamentary approval for any ministerial changes before the summer recess.
But she is unlikely to make the changes before tomorrow, as she is in Berlin until then for a series of meetings.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘Every day it becomes more and more obvious to patients and staff that Shona Robison is out of her depth, out of ideas and out of time.
‘Nicola Sturgeon needs to put the NHS above her friendship and sack this failed Health Secretary. But as we mark the NHS’s 70th birthday, the best gift would be an end to a decade of mismanagement and the delivery of adequate funding and staffing.’
A Scottish Lib Dem spokesman said: ‘Week after week we tell the SNP they need to up their performance on health.
‘Two weeks ago a Lib Dem motion in the Scottish parliament gave them a final written warning. If they don’t set out fresh plans in the near future people will have had enough of them.’
Miss Sturgeon was previously expected to make changes to her Cabinet last summer after her party lost 21 of its Westminster seats amid an anti-independence backlash. But she opted against the move because she felt her programme for government would be radical enough to win over voters.
She has faced growing criticism from within her own party. Earlier this month, former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill accused her of failing to do anything more than carry on ‘her predecessor’s legacy’.
He said: ‘It’s three-and-a-half years since Nicola Sturgeon took over from Alex Salmond and it’s time to spell out her own vision.
‘To date, such has either been overshadowed by Brexit or talk of the date for an independence referendum.’
Miss Sturgeon’s popularity is also in decline. A recent YouGov poll showed her approval rating is -2 per cent, against +56 per cent in 2015.
Asked if a reshuffle will happen, a Scottish Government source said it is ‘all the usual speculation you get at the beginning and end of any parliamentary year’ and there are ‘no plans’ for changes.
‘Robison out of her depth’