The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Greening quits after shift from education portfolio
Resignation is the biggest upset as PM attempts to reassert her authority
Justine Greening has quit the Government after refusing to take the work and pensions post following a move from the education portfolio, Downing Street sources said.
The move is the biggest upset of a reshuffle which saw Prime Minister Theresa May keep all the political big beasts in her Cabinet in place.
No 10 sources said Mrs May is “disappointed” but respects Ms Greening’s decision to leave the Government.
Damian Hinds was subsequently appointed Education Secretary.
Earlier Mrs May’s attempt to reassert her authority in the reshuffle descended into farce with the bungled announcement of the new Conservative chairman.
Chris Grayling was unveiled on social media by the party as its new chairman, before the tweet was deleted and Brandon Lewis was given the job.
In Mrs May’s first significant reshuffle since becoming PM in 2016, David Lidington replaces Damian Green – who quit last month after admitting lying about pornography on his work computer – as minister for the cabinet office.
That will see Mr Lidington, the former Justice Secretary, take up the role of Mrs May’s chief negotiator in Brexit talks between the UK and Scottish governments on returning EU powers.
Mr Lewis, the former immigration minister, was also given the position of minister without portfolio, a title which was misspelt in Number 10’s Twitter announcement.
A major part of his job as party chairman will be to reverse the collapse of support among young voters and increase its flagging membership.
That includes revolutionising the party’s use of social media after Labour’s slick online machine during the general election campaign exposed Tory weaknesses.
The official Conservative Twitter account congratulated Mr Grayling and an image of him confirming his appointment was distributed to MPs, which at least two of them tweeted.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Alistair Carmichael said: “If they can’t even run a Twitter account, how can they be expected to run the country?”
The newly-appointed deputy chairman of the party James Cleverly said the “mis-tweet” appeared to have been caused by an over-excited member of Tory HQ staff.
The most senior members of the cabinet including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Secretary David Davis, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Chancellor Philip Hammond have kept their positions.
Stephen Gethins, the SNP MP, said the reshuffle has shown the PM is a “prisoner to the hard Brexiteers” in her party.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell is all but certain to keep his cabinet post.
Mr Lidington, who will chair the next joint ministerial committee on the EU between the UK and devolved administrations as early as next month, has not been given the title of First Secretary of State, which marked Mr Green out as Theresa May’s effective deputy.
David Gauke, who was Work and Pensions Secretary, will succeed Mr Lidington as Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.
In other developments, James Brokenshire stood down as Northern Ireland Secretary for health reasons. His replacement is Karen Bradley, whose culture brief goes to Matthew Hancock.