Theresa May ‘missed a trick’ with cabinet appointments
The PM has maintained the Brexit balance in cabinet - but irritated many backbenchers in the process
Theresa May has resisted calls for a major reshuffle and sought to maintain the balance of her cabinet by appointing pro-Brexit Penny Mordaunt as new International Development Secretary.
The former minister for disabled people replaces fellow Brexiteer Priti Patel, who resigned on Wednesday after breaching the ministerial code by failing to disclose meetings with Israeli officials.
Following the surprise promotion of Chief Whip Gavin Williamson to Defence Secretary, it had been thought that the Prime Minister might opt for a more experienced pair of hands, perhaps Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That approach seems to have been torpedoed by “Eurosceptic MPs [who] warned that Patel’s successor could not be a minister who voted Remain during the EU referendum”, says The Daily Telegraph.
Asked whether Patel’s successor should be a supporter of Brexit, Iain Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are all Brexiteers now, so the question is to what degree do you want someone in that job to be in support of David Davis and others, and I think therefore the balance on having strong Brexit views is one that in all probability the Prime Minister will certainly look for.”
Mordaunt’s appointment has sparked condemnation from Remainers, including some within her own party. In the run-up to last year’s EU referendum, then prime minister David Cameron raised serious questions over her judgement after she claimed Turkey was set to join the EU in the next eight years and the UK would be unable to veto the move.
Cameron described Mordaunt’s claims that Britain had no veto over Turkish accession to the 28-member bloc as “misleading” and “absolutely wrong”.
She may have managed “to keep the Cabinet’s gender and Remain/Leave balance unchanged”, writes Stephen Bush in the New Statesman, but the past week’s appointments have “demonstrated the Prime Minister’s lack of political dexterity”.
If she had made Mordaunt, a naval reservist, Defence Secretary last week, instead of Williamson, “she could have pleased Conservative MPs in general and Brexiteers in particular”, says Bush. She would then have had a free hand to promote a younger up-and-coming minister like Rory Stewart or Tom Tugendhat to Patel’s old job, “which would have pleased Remainers”.
This would have “nodded to the general urge in the Conservative Party to give the younger generation its moment in the sun, and – by signalling a shift back to the Cameron era of good relations with the international development sector – have helped repair some of the damage to the party’s standing among social liberals”, says Bush.
Instead, May riled parts of her party by promoting Williamson - and then missed a huge opportunity to bring the party together.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Do youth curfews work?
Today's big question Banning unaccompanied children from towns and cities is popular with some voters but is contentious politically
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Sleaze baack!'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 April
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Farewell to Theresa May: a PM consumed by Brexit
Talking Point Maidenhead MP standing down at next general election
By The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Stormont power-sharing in sight: 'good news' for Northern Ireland?
Talking Point Unionists vote to end two-year boycott after agreeing legislative package to address post-Brexit trading arrangements
By The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published