Cameron’s Cabinet reshuff le stalls as Ken Clarke refuses to quit Justice post

DAVID Cameron’s Cabinet reshuffle has been thrown into doubt after claims that Ken Clarke is refusing to give up his job as Justice Secretary.

The reports come as the Prime Minister uses his summer holiday in Spain to put the finishing touches to his first major Cabinet shakeup since he won power in 2010.

Mr Cameron plans to keep all the Conservative Cabinet ‘big beasts’ – Chancellor George Osborne, Foreign Secretary William Hague, Home Secretary Theresa May, Education Secretary Michael Gove and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley – in place. And with Nick Clegg’s four Lib Dem Cabinet Ministers – Vince Cable, Danny Alexander, Ed Davey and Michael Moore – also likely to stay put, the Prime Minister has limited room to introduce fresh blood.

Most of the jockeying has centred on 72-year-old Mr Clarke’s future as Justice Secretary, with the Right of the party lobbying for the job to go to a hardliner such as Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling.

Home Office Minister Nick Herbert and Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude have also been tipped to succeed Mr Clarke.

But friends of Mr Clarke have accused his critics of plotting to get him the sack. One Tory MP ally said: ‘Ken enjoys being a Cabinet player as much as ever.

‘He is seen as an easy target because of his age, his views on Europe and his liberal attitude towards human rights. But he is also one of the few Cabinet figures with gravitas and man-on-thestreet appeal.

‘The whips have been told in strong terms that it would be a mistake to lose him – particularly if it means promoting political pygmies.’ Mr Clarke boasts some extraordinary political experience, having become an MP in 1970 at the age of 29 and being made a Government whip two years later.

He then served in Margaret Thatcher’s Government as Health Secretary, Education Secretary, Home Secretary and Chancellor after the Conservativ es came to power in 1979.

The quota on Lib Dem Cabinet Ministers means David Laws, who resigned two years ago after revelations about his parliamentary expenses, is unlikely to make a comeback as a Secretary of State.