UK General Discussion: Rishecession

[Blair]

Strange to appoint Atkins as health- the Tories seem to have largely given up on even trying to make it an issue they can mildly salvage.

[CumbrianLefty]

He needed to sack her before the Supreme Court ruling on Rwanda on Wednesday gave her either a potential win or an excuse to resign. Hence the urgency this reshuffle is being conducted.

My own hunch is that they have an advance tip off about the ruling, and it's not in their favour. In that case, Braverman's genuinely unhinged demand for a snap GE over it may have been the final straw?

[brucejoel99]

Just woke up to this.

Is Cameron even in the HOL? This is insanity.

Rishi is appointing him to the Lords

[Torrain]

Esther McVey headed into No.10.
https://twitter.com/stephenkb/status/1724111561264947681

[KaiserDave]

One thing I’ll say - now that they’ve done this, I desperately hope he makes it through the next year. He presided over the start of the s**tshow, he deserves to be there for the spectacular end.

It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[Pericles]

It's just ridiculous how much ministerial turnover there has been and it makes it impossible for important portfolios to be done well.

[KaiserDave]

Season 1: Coalition
Season 2: Brexit
Season 3: Boris!
Season 4: The End

Leak of the seasons for the future BBC series.

[Torrain]

https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1724115325283700826
Baffling.

Her role will be to represent Rishi Sunak's government on TV and radio as much as possible, and to speak what he sees as "common sense" on all those gender, culture and British colonial history issues that she is vocal about, as a so-called "blue collar" Tory. The Tory populist right is being asked to trade in Braverman for McVey

The gaffe potential is off the charts.

[Biden 2024]

I'm American so I don't follow MP turnover quite as closely as one might, but for some reason my brain had a constructed memory of McVey resigning relatively recently and being replaced in a by-election? There's way too many of these people.

[Zinneke]

I'm American so I don't follow MP turnover quite as closely as one might, but for some reason my brain had a constructed memory of McVey resigning relatively recently and being replaced in a by-election? There's way too many of these people.

You're probably confusing McVeigh with Nadine Dorries.

[Biden 2024]

I'm American so I don't follow MP turnover quite as closely as one might, but for some reason my brain had a constructed memory of McVey resigning relatively recently and being replaced in a by-election? There's way too many of these people.

You're probably confusing McVeigh with Nadine Dorries.

Evidently, yeah, good catch. Think my confusion was partially because she had a GB News show.

[JimJamUK]

Holden engineered much of the noise around "beergate" last year, for better or worse. Given it let Starmer get on a soap-box and talk about his own integrity amidst the worst of partygate, I'd be inclined to lean towards the latter.

Odd that, given the rest of the cabinet leans *very* blue wall, they'd put party strategy in the hands of a red-waller. Every other appointment screams "shore up the home counties", while Holden is very 2019.

Long-term SPAD from the posh bit of Lancashire who has already given up trying to hold his current ‘Red Wall’ seat. Given this appointment and recent favourable briefings, they’ll find him a safe seat closer to the election.

[Biden 2024]

Apropos of the actual content of the letter itself, I'm kind of blown away by how poorly this is written? How is this official party correspondence lol.

https://twitter.com/andreajenkyns/status/1724124983843045539

[Filuwaúrdjan]

She was (very briefly) an education minister.

[President Johnson]

I was wondering whether Cameron was still a MP, though it seems he was appointed regardless and only the prime minister needs to be a member of parliament. Definitely interesting to bring him back, especially by holding a lower office than before.

Nonetheless, I think Sunak will face backlash over this cabinet reshuffle from the hardliners within his party. German media already writes that "the adults in the room are back" and Brexiters are increasingly mad. In a worst case scenario, the Tories won't complete the term and a snap election turns into a massive Labor landslide.

[Torrain]

Apropos of the actual content of the letter itself, I'm kind of blown away by how poorly this is written? How is this official party correspondence lol.

https://twitter.com/andreajenkyns/status/1724124983843045539

This is the MP who once got bored in a meeting, swung on her chair like a child, and ended up hospitalising herself with a concussion. We’re not talking about a serious person.

The fact Johnson made her Higher Education Minister tells you all you need to know about the state of his caretaker government last year.

[GoTfan]

What are the chances at the moment that Sunak's government even manages to limp to the scheduled timing of the 2024 election?

[brucejoel99]

I was wondering whether Cameron was still a MP, though it seems he was appointed regardless and only the prime minister needs to be a member of parliament. Definitely interesting to bring him back, especially by holding a lower office than before.

Cameron has been made a Member of Parliament in the Lords:

https://twitter.com/shippersunbound/status/1724004431207731355

[Torrain]

One of the under-discussed aspects of today has been the number of relatively competent and experienced junior ministers - all Sunak allies, who’ve jumped ship throughout the day.

Nick Gibb at Education, Jesse Norman at Transport, Will Quince and Neil O'Brien at Health, George Freeman at Science and Technology - it’s become a wee exodus of loyalists.

Some of them have stayed pretty bluntly that they’re “looking at other opportunities”. Which is a clear invocation of the ACOBA rules about putting six months between ministerial service and  certain jobs outside of government. Whether that’s them jumping off at the last big reshuffle, or a sign that we’re looking at an election in May (almost precisely six months out), is up to speculation.

Edit: Steve Double at the whips’ office also resigning.

[TheTide]

One of the under-discussed aspects of today has been the number of relatively competent and experienced junior ministers - all Sunak allies, who’ve jumped ship throughout the day.

Nick Gibb at Education, Jesse Norman at Transport, Will Quince and Neil O'Brien at Health, George Freeman at Science and Technology - it’s become a wee exodus of loyalists.

Some of them have stayed pretty bluntly that they’re “looking at other opportunities”. Which is a clear invocation of the ACOBA rules about putting six months between ministerial service and  certain jobs outside of government. Whether that’s them jumping off at the last big reshuffle, or a sign that we’re looking at an election in May (almost precisely six months out), is up to speculation.

If the polls have the Labour lead down to circa 10% by about March next year (which is a big if) then the election will almost certainly be in May.

[JimJamUK]

Apropos of the actual content of the letter itself, I'm kind of blown away by how poorly this is written? How is this official party correspondence lol.

https://twitter.com/andreajenkyns/status/1724124983843045539

Defend free speech, ban peaceful protest by people who disagree with us.

[Blair]

McVey is very much like one of those nameless New Labour Ministers who did a job for 12 months, gets moved sideways or sacked and then bought back because no-one can actually remember what they did to get sacked.

[Torrain]

Tom Hunt sacked as PPS to the NI Sec - reportedly for supporting Braverman at the weekend.

Also, Andrea Leadsom is back in government - as a junior minister in the Dept. of Health.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1724115325283700826
Baffling.

Her role will be to represent Rishi Sunak's government on TV and radio as much as possible, and to speak what he sees as "common sense" on all those gender, culture and British colonial history issues that she is vocal about, as a so-called "blue collar" Tory. The Tory populist right is being asked to trade in Braverman for McVey

The gaffe potential is off the charts.

[Alben Barkley]

So hold up, just to be clear: Sunak thought bringing back the man who simultaneously is both most responsible for Brexit and is absolutely loathed by Brexiteers might breathe some new life into his failing, flailing party?

Do I have that right?