Cabinet reshuffle - as it happened: Theresa May's attempt at show of strength ruined by ministers refusing to be moved
How the Prime Minister's New Year's reshuffle happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May’s attempts to reassert her authority through a Cabinet reshuffle ran into difficulties after senior ministers refused to move from their jobs.
Education Secretary Justine Greening dramatically quit the Government when Ms May tried to move her to the Department of Work and Pensions, leaving the Prime Minister scrambling to promote junior ministers to her top team.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also spent more than 90 minutes in Downing Street where he resisted Ms May's attempts to persuade him to switch to Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and allow Business Secretary Greg Clark to take on his role.
Cabinet “big beasts” such as Boris Johnson, Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd all kept their jobs, which led to critics quoting the PM's widely mocked election campaign claim that "nothing has changed" - when she made a major U-turn on a social care pledge.
Earlier, the shake-up descended into chaos when the Conservatives’ official Twitter account accidentally put out that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling would become party chairman – before Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis was officially appointed shortly after.
Former Justice Secretary David Lidington was appointed to replace the PM's close ally Damian Green, who was sacked as the Cabinet Office minister and de facto Prime Minister last month for misleading statements over pornography found on his office computer.
A younger and more diverse team of MPs was appointed to hold various Conservative party posts, although the appointment of pro-life MP Maria Caulfield to a prominent women's role attracted controversy.
Please see the live updates below
According to The Telegraph this morning, the Prime Minister will appoint a ‘no deal Brexit’ minister. The person given the job at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) is expected to attend Cabinet and control a significant budget but will not be a secretary of state.
And Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has already reacted, saying: “The government should not even be considering leaving the EU with no deal - that is the worst of all possible options. However, this shows the journey the Conservatives are taking, steering the country further and further into a highly damaging hard Brexit.
“The Prime Minister should be negotiating Brexit on what are the best terms for Britain, not on what might temporarily salve ideological arguments in her deeply divided party. For the good of our economic future, a no deal Brexit must be ruled out immediately.”
This is from the Sunday Times' political editor. Should make for an interesting listen.
Former Tory leader Lord Howard said the PM must make clear that "no deal is better than a bad deal" in Brexit negotiations.
Commenting on the prospect of a "no deal" minister, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I certainly think you've always got to make it clear in any negotiation that no deal is better than a bad deal, because if you go into any negotiation saying 'I've got to have a deal at any price', you're going to be taken to the cleaners, which is what I feel would happen if Mr Corbyn was in charge of these negotiations."
He also encouraged the PM to promote talented MPs who entered Parliament at the 2015 and 2017 general elections.
"The challenge facing the Prime Minister today, what she will want to do is to give fresh impetus to the Government and there is an array of talent on the back benches, and in junior ministerial positions," the peer said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Tim Shipman of the Sunday Times says that Theresa May will make every member of Cabinet go through Downing Street's front door regardless of whether they are being sacked or promoted.
On the same programme, May's former director of communications Katie Perrior says "this is Theresa May's last chance" to reset the agenda and refocus on domestic policy.
And this is from the Press Association:
Most, if not all, serving Cabinet ministers will be seen in Downing Street on Monday, a Number 10 source said, making it more difficult for Westminster observers to work out who might be getting sacked before it is announced officially.
Jeremy Hunt's name has appeared in various newspapers, tipping him to take Damian Green's former job as First Secretary of State - the de facto deputy Prime Minister.
But Ms May might want to avoid moving the Health Secretary at a moment when so much attention is on the health service, in the midst of a crisis. Others have also put forward the name of Chris Graying, a loyal ally of the PM and Transport Secretary, for the job.
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