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Boris Johnson announces changes to senior roles following resignations

The PM lost five aides in the space of 24 hours on Thursday and Friday.

Geraldine Scott
Saturday 05 February 2022 15:13 EST
(PA)
(PA) (PA Wire)

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Boris Johnson has announced two new appointments to Downing Street in an attempt to try and steady the ship after a tumultuous week.

No 10 announced on Saturday evening that Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay will become the PMā€™s chief of staff and will be ā€œin charge of integrating the new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office driving the Governmentā€™s agenda more efficiently and ensuring it is better aligned with the Cabinet and backbenchersā€.

Journalist Guto Harri is joining Mr Johnsonā€™s team as director of communications. He was Mr Johnsonā€™s spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor.

Mr Johnson said: ā€œThis week I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.

ā€œWe need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving peopleā€™s opportunities regardless of where theyā€™re from.

ā€œThe changes Iā€™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.ā€

More announcements are expected in the coming days with what No 10 said would be a ā€œparticular focus on improving engagement and liaison with MPsā€.

It comes after Mr Johnson lost five aides in the space of 24 hours as he faced battles on multiple fronts, including over his reaction to the partygate saga and his allegation over Sir Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile.

Mr Barclay replaces Dan Rosenfield as the Prime Ministerā€™s top special adviser, and will also continue his role in the Cabinet Office and as an MP.

He tweeted that it was ā€œan honourā€ to take up the role.

Mr Rosenfieldā€™s position was considered untenable when Sue Grayā€™s interim inquiry criticised ā€œfailures of leadershipā€ at the heart of Government.

Mr Harri will replace Jack Doyle, who was reportedly at two of the 12 events that are under investigation by police looking at alleged lockdown breaches.

The former BBC journalist quit GB News last year following a row over him taking the knee during a debate on the racism directed towards England football players.

Although considered an ally of Mr Johnson, he has been critical of the PM and called him a ā€œhugely divisive figureā€.

On Wednesday, on the Welsh political programme Y byd yn ei le Mr Harri was questioning MP Alun Cairns over whether Mr Johnsonā€™s premiership could survive if he was found to have broken the law in the partygate investigation.

It has already been announced that Tory MP Andrew Griffith would replace Munira Mirza who quit as Mr Johnsonā€™s policy chief on Thursday.

Ms Mirza quit with a damning letter criticising Mr Johnson for his use of a ā€œscurrilousā€ smear against Labour leader Sir Keir, over the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

The Prime Ministerā€™s refusal to apologise over the conspiracy theory seemed to be the last straw for his adviser, who stuck with him since the London mayor days.

Mr Harri once described Ms Mirza as ā€œthe perfect counter to those critics who suspected the worse of Borisā€.

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