Women to be the big winners in reshuffle
WOMEN are expected to be the big winners when the Prime Minister carries out his long-awaited ministerial reshuffle on Thursday.
A group of highly rated female MPS in junior positions and stuck on the backbenches are set to get into the Cabinet or receive senior jobs from Boris Johnson.
Former sports ministertracey Crouch, who resigned fromtheresa May’s government when the former prime minister backtracked on clamping down on fixed-odds betting machines, is being tipped for a post. Former defence secretary
Penny Mordaunt, who was sacked by Mr Johnson when he reached No 10, is expected to return to the cabinet.
Former Brexit minister Suella Braverman, who resigned over Mrs May’s Chequers plans and subsequently became a mother, is also set for a return to the ministerial ranks and tipped to make the Cabinet.
The Fareham MP, who had a distinguished career as a lawyer, is part of a group of Conservative backbenchers pushing for legal changes to limit the power of judges to make new laws through judicial activism. Ms Braverman raised the
issue in Prime Minister’s Questions last week and was later supported by former minister Sir John Hayes andwitney MP Robert Courts.
With Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, expected to move on, Ms Braverman is one of the candidates to replace him along with prisons minister Lucy Frazer, who is being tipped to get into the Cabinet.
Others expected to make their way into senior jobs are Berwick MP Anne-marie Trevelyan, a leading Brexiteer, and culture minister Helen Whately.
Internationaltrade Secretary Liztruss is expected to stay in the Cabinet along with Leader of the House Jacob Rees-mogg after early speculation that they were returning to the back benches.
However, the only Cabinet minister guaranteed to keep his job istransport
Secretary Grant Shapps. A source close to the Prime Minister said last night: “Downing Street has been impressed by his grip on the portfolio, and his disciplined approach to media.”
Last month ministers were told that they would be judged on how well they did their job and told not to tour thetv studios or lunch with journalists.
It is understood Mr Johnson could move Chancellor Sajid Javid but may wait for a subsequent reshuffle because the Budget is due next month.
A senior source said: “Javid is seen in Downing Street as a placeholder for [his deputy, Chief Secretary to the Treasury] Rishi Sunak.
“But Rishi needs to show how well he performs in the spending review first.”