MASSACRE OF MIDDLE AGED WHITE MEN
Women and minority MPs promoted so Govt ‘looks more like UK’
THERESA May carried out a ‘massacre of middle-aged men’ on the second day of her New Year reshuffle.
She promoted a string of female and ethnic minority MPs yesterday to make her Government look ‘more like the country it serves’.
Eight women joined the ranks compared with six men. Some have been in parliament for only two years and five come from minority backgrounds. All ten ministers axed during the reshuffle were white men.
Of the Tory Party’s 19 minority MPs, 12 now have a j ob i n government or at Conservative Central Office.
Downing Street ducked questions on whether Mrs May was using positive discrimination, but her official spokesman confirmed one aim of the reshuffle was to make the Government more representative.
However, Cabinet ministers are still five times more likely to have been privately educated than the general population. Key developments last night included:
Universities minister Jo Johnson being moved after his decision to appoint Toby Young to a new regulator led to embarrassment for the Government;
A shake-up at the whips’ office in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal, with six women joining the team;
The appointment of former families minister Caroline Dinenage as a dedicated social care minister;
The sacking of trade minister Mark Garnier, after it emerged he had called a female member of staff ‘sugar t**s’ and asked her to buy a sex toy;
New ministers at the key Brexit and housing departments.
Philip Davies said the reshuffle had created ‘concern that some people may feel they have been hoofed out or not promoted simply because they are a white male’.
He added: ‘ Time will tell as to whether these people have got their jobs on merit or whether they have got them on tokenism.
‘ But obviously any self- r especting Conservative would say that all jobs should be given on merit and we should be blind to people’s gender, race or religion.’
The grassroots Tory website Conservative Home branded the junior reshuffle the ‘ massacre of the middle-aged men’.
Mrs May said it was aimed at ‘bringing fresh talent into Government, boosting delivery in key policy areas’, and ‘ensuring the Government looks more like the country it serves’. She added: ‘It also allows a new generation of gifted ministers to step up and make life better for people across the whole UK.’
Women and ethnic minority MPs fared well, with Harriett Baldwin, Margot James and Miss Dinenage all being made ministers of state.
Alok Sharma is now employment minister, while Sam Gyimah was made universities minister.
Yesterday’s reshuffle of the lower ranks followed a difficult Cabinet shake-up the previous day in which Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt refused Mrs May’s request to move departments and Justine Greening was sacked after she refused to switch from education to welfare.
Despite promotions, no new ethnic minority ministers joined the Cabinet and the number of women in it did not change.
Analysis by the Sutton Trust found Mrs May’s top team had gone backward in terms of reflecting the educational backgrounds of the rest of the country.
The proportion that went to private schools rose from 30 per cent to 34 per cent – almost five times the national average. A further 24 per cent, i ncluding Mrs May, attended selective state schools.
Meanwhile, the Brexit department was beefed up with the appointment of a leading Eurosceptic who says leaving the EU without a deal would be ‘great’ for Britain.
Fareham MP Suella Fernandes, a former barrister, is chairman of the influential European Research Group of pro-Brexit backbench Tories. Her promotion to a junior ministerial post marks a meteoric rise for the 37-year- old, who was elected to Parliament in 2015.
A daughter of immigrants from Kenya and Mauritius, she has previously declared her determination to make Britain a ‘fully sovereign trading nation’ after Brexit.
Miss Fernandes says that in 15 years, Brexit ‘will be seen as the best thing that has happened to our country’, adding: ‘In the event of no deal, that’s great as well for us... no deal is something we will capitalise on.’
The Department for Leaving the EU, led by David Davis, now has three junior ministers in the Commons – Miss Fernandes, Robin Walker and Steve Baker.
At the end of her reshuffle, Mrs May had carefully preserved the balance within Cabinet of Leavers and Remainers. The new Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey, backed Brexit. Two pro-Remain MPs, Claire Perry and Caroline
‘All jobs should be given on merit’
Nokes, will also attend Cabinet. The most eye-catching promotion on Monday was of David Liddington, an exEurope minister and Remainer, who takes Damian Green’s Cabinet Office job. Contrary to one report, there was no evidence of the appointment of a ‘minister for no deal’ to deal with preparations for the collapse of talks.
Jeremy Corbyn has i nfuriated Labour Remainers by reminding them that Britain voted to quit the EU.
He told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday that he would not support their bid to keep Britain in the single market because it was not what voters wanted.