Male Tory ministers’ anger over ladies first reshuffle

BORIS Johnson faces a revolt from male Ministers over fears they will lose their jobs in a ‘ladies first’ reshuffle this summer.

The Tory men angrily accuse the Prime Minister of planning to favour ‘tokenism over talent’ by promoting a raft of women MPs.

One senior male Minister said: ‘Boris should be picking people based on competence, not gender.’

But last night, Tory women accused the men of ‘sour grapes’.

Caroline Nokes, former chair of the Commons’ Women and Equalities committee, said: ‘If male, pale and stale colleagues feel overlooked, perhaps it’s more to do with their ability than their gender.’

The row broke amid already fevered speculation in the Tory ranks as to who will get promoted in what is expected to be a major ministerial shake-up this summer.

Government insiders suggest that International Trade Secretary Liz Truss is set for a promotion while much-criticised Education Secretary Gavin Williamson could yet escape the Cabinet chop.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi is also widely expected to be rewarded in the reshuffle.

Allegra Stratton – the Prime Minister’s press secretary – singled out two women Ministers during the week – Care Minister Helen Whately and Children’s Minister Vicky Ford.

Other Tory women have already been tipped for promotion, including Treasury Minister Kemi Badenoch and backbenchers Claire Coutinho, former adviser to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Laura Trott, who worked at No10 during the Cameron premiership.

But other MPs last night accused some male colleagues of over-reacting and said that the Prime Minister had every right to promote talented women.

Only five of the 23 full members of Mr Johnson’s Cabinet are women – a worse ratio than under predecessor David Cameron.