PM hires Brexiteer as chief aide in ‘return to core values’
BORIS JOHNSON is installing one of his most senior ministers as chief of staff in a move designed to help relaunch his premiership and signal a return to core Conservative values.
Steve Barclay, the Brexiteer Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will become the Prime Minister’s most senior aide. Mr Johnson said his appointment would strengthen the role of Cabinet ministers and MPs.
Mr Johnson has also hired Guto Harri, a trusted former City Hall aide and former BBC journalist, as communications chief. Mr Barclay’s role, which will include overseeing the merger of the Cabinet Office with a new Office of the Prime Minister, is also intended to reassure Conservative backbenchers that the Government will break away from the interventionist policies of the Covid era and return to the small-state conservatism championed by Mr Johnson before he entered No10.
The appointments come after a series of disaffected backbenchers announced that they were submitting letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson, aimed at triggering a leadership contest.
Last night one No 10 source said: “These men have a gargantuan task ahead of them. They will have the full support of the No 10 team, not least because this is the last-chance saloon.” Mr Johnson is also in talks to formalise a role for David Canzini, a protégé of Sir Lynton Crosby, the Australian election guru, who has been advising the Prime Minister behind the scenes.
Sir Lynton and Mr Canzini are believed to be waiting to see the extent of the “reset” before accepting any offer. They are said to see little to gain in helping unless the Prime Minister parts company with other aides who have regularly clashed with MPs and ministers.
A minister said that some remaining No10 aides were “part of the problem. They have blocked us, micromanaged us and tried to interfere at every level.”
Last night Henry Newman, who has drawn criticism from backbenchers and ministers for his reported involvement in several controversial policies, was expected to leave No 10 to return to work for Michael Gove, his old boss.
Mr Barclay, a former Treasury minister, is an ally of Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, and his appointment is also likely to help thaw relations between No 10 and No11 Downing Street. Mr Barclay, a former whip, is seen as hawkish on the economy and kept a tight rein on public spending as chief secretary to the Treasury, under Mr Sunak, before joining the Cabinet Office last year.
One Tory source said: “He does get it and was very good at the Treasury. He will bring rigour.”
Last night Mr Johnson said: “This week, I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.
“We need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of
‘This week, I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do’
thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving people’s opportunities regardless of where they’re from.
“The changes I’m announcing to my senior team today will improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country.”
One minister suggested that Mr Barclay’s appointment could reignite the possibility of significant reform to the civil service, to help the Government drive through its policy agenda.
The minister said: “This is all very good news. Steve is one of the most sensible members of the Cabinet and really understands the need for administrative reform. He understands how you get things done and that it’s difficult to get things done.”
Mr Barclay said: “It is an honour to have been asked by the PM to serve as Chief of Staff for No10 Downing Street alongside my responsibilities in the Cabinet Office.
“I am looking forward to working with the PM, ministers and parliamentary colleagues on the issues that matter most to our country.”
The changes follow the departures of Dan Rosenfield, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Martin Reynolds, his most senior official, and Jack Doyle, the No10 communications chief, as Mr Johnson faced calls to quit over alleged breaches of Covid rules in Downing Street and his handling of the controversy.
On Thursday, Mr Johnson also lost Munira Mirza, his head of policy, in a move that spooked some MPs who were already concerned about the direction of the Government.
One influential MP, who has so far refrained from publicly denouncing the Prime Minister, said that “a lot of people” now think that a no confidence vote was likely but believed that they should refrain from submitting a letter until “an event, which could be the final [Sue] Gray report or disastrous local election results in May.
“A lot of them argue that if you have letters going in prematurely he would win a vote of confidence and then cling on.”
Mr Barclay will continue to chair several Cabinet committees, giving him significantly greater authority than his predecessor, Mr Rosenfield.
It is understood that many of his other ministerial responsibilities are likely to be redistributed among other Cabinet Office ministers.
‘This is all very good news. Steve understands how you get things done and that it’s difficult to get things done’