Hand of Osborne pulling the strings
DAVID Cameron’s reshuffle saw 14 ministers promoted to the Cabinet for the first time or switch posts. Here, we look at some of the newcomers and the challenges they face:
GREG CLARK:
The ex-universities minister replaces Eric Pickles as the Cabinet minister for communities and local government.
IN-TRAY:
A passionate advocate of devolution, he will be tasked with helping George Osborne to deliver his ‘northern powerhouse’ – a pilot project under which Greater Manchester will be given sweeping spending powers. Will have more deep cuts to preside over in town hall spending. Unlikely to repeat Mr Pickles’ pledge that every Briton has a ‘human right’ to have his bins emptied every week – a pledge he failed to meet for five years.
SAJID JAVID: A future leadership contender, he is promoted from the Culture Department to Secretary of State for Business.
IN-TRAY: Main task is to inject some energy into a department that was moribund and often irrelevant under Vince Cable – a man actively opposed to lifting the regulatory burden on business. The son of a bus driver, he had been told by his school careers adviser that he would make a good TV repair man, but instead went on to earn an estimated £20million fortune in banking. He recently revealed how, in his late 20s, he met Mrs Thatcher at a Tory fundraiser – who told him it would fall to him to ‘protect our great island’.
MATT HANCOCK:
Former economic adviser and chief of staff to George Osborne whose promotion to the post of Cabinet Office minister and Paymaster General reflects the huge influence the Chancellor had on Mr Cameron’s reshuffle.
IN-TRAY:
The 36-year-old West Suffolk MP is charged with continuing Francis Maude’s work to make the civil service more efficient and less obstructive to the wishes of the elected government. Will also be under pres- sure from Tory MPs to truly ignite the long promised ‘bonfire of the quangos’.
GREG HANDS:
Another former Osborne aide, he was deputy chief whip in the last parliament. Now rewarded with the post of Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
IN-TRAY:
The multi-lingual former City trader replaces Danny Alexander as cutter-in-chief. Checked his desk drawer to see if his Lib Dem predecessor had left a Liam Byrne-style ‘There is no money’ note. None was found.
CHRIS GRAYLING:
The prominent Tory rightwinger and attack dog moves sideways from the post of Justice Secretary to Leader of the House of Commons.
IN-TRAY:
Mr Grayling is the architect of Tory plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, which it will now fall to his successor, Michael Gove, to implement in the face of the anguished wails of the civil liberties lobby. Immediately walks into a new constitutional minefield – trying to devise a new law to deliver ‘English votes for English laws’. This will mean Scottish MPs no longer having a say on matters which relate solely to England, such as the NHS.
DAVID MUNDELL:
Few MPs can have been less surprised to get Mr Cameron’s call: as the only Conservative MP in Scotland he was a shoo-in to become Scottish Secretary.
IN-TRAY:
Previously an MSP at Holyrood, he said: ‘I get on very well with Nicola Sturgeon and I look forward to it’. Time will tell. The Prime Minister will make the big decisions on whether to grant the Scots greater fiscal autonomy or move to a more federal system. Mr Mundell will have to lead the negotiations with the SNP, which was yesterday awarded formal ‘third party’ status at Westminster in place of the Lib Dems.
ANNA SOUBRY:
The 58-year-old mother of two will attend Cabinet as minister of state for small business. Previously a middle-ranking defence minister.
IN-TRAY:
Likened to Mrs Thatcher by some, she impressed in her old brief with combative media performances on BBC Question Time. Did well to defend her ultra- marginal Broxtowe seat last week and will now be tasked with freeing small firms from red tape in a department that was previously the personal fiefdom of the ousted Lib Dem veteran Vince Cable.