The British Prime Minister exchanges several ministers.
(Photo: AP)
London Boris Johnson is said to be reluctant to offend other people. The British Prime Minister likes to postpone cabinet reshuffles, after all, he inevitably has to deliver bad news.
On Wednesday, however, it was that time again: Immediately after his Question Time in Parliament, Johnson summoned one minister after the other. After two years on Downing Street, the Conservative head of government wanted to send a signal about what he was going to do with the rest of his term in office.
He wanted to introduce a strong team that would rebuild the country after the pandemic and reduce regional inequality, he announced. Internally, the main purpose of the personnel rogue is to reward loyal colleagues and to consolidate one’s authority. After the ministers, the state secretaries will also be reorganized; in total, the head of government has several dozen posts to fill.
The last time Johnson had rebuilt his cabinet after Brexit in February 2020. At that time he had fired five ministers, the day was christened the “Valentine’s Day Massacre”.
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Raab resisted his transfer
This time, too, there were prominent victims, above all Foreign Minister Dominic Raab. Johnson’s deputy ran the business in spring 2020, while the premier was in intensive care with Corona. Now the Brexit hardliner has been demoted to Minister of Justice, a less prestigious position, but one that should suit the detail-oriented lawyer. The previous trade minister Liz Truss, the most popular politician among the conservative grassroots, takes over his post and becomes foreign minister.
Raab looked bad when NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August. The day the Afghan capital Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban, the foreign minister was spotted on the beach in Crete. Even when he broke off his vacation, Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer took advantage of the fact that an international evacuation could not be organized from the beach.
The Foreign Minister considers the criticism to be unfair to this day and, according to media reports, fiercely opposed the transfer. After all, he was allowed to keep the title of Deputy Prime Minister. Johnson took the opportunity to get rid of other scandal-ridden ministers. Education Minister Gavin Williamson had regularly produced negative headlines in the corona pandemic and turned teachers and parents against him.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick had been noticed by his questionable proximity to real estate developers. He had also incurred the anger of many Tories because he wanted to force housing construction in the green belt through far-reaching changes to building regulations. The dismissal of the two ministers therefore came as no surprise. More layoffs and promotions are expected later this Wednesday. Cabinet reshuffles in Great Britain usually take several days.
More: Johnson breaks election promises – and increases social security contributions
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