Rishi Sunak’s baby steps on cabinet changes are a reminder he still struggles to take his party with him
Rishi Sunak today sought to put his own stamp on the cabinet, in a way not possible a year ago when he took over.
Yet this reshuffle – which was already in the works in May – took only baby steps towards creating a cabinet truly in Mr Sunak’s image.
Even this level of change immediately provoked rumblings which suggest some of the Conservative Party are not yet ready for a top team that bears his imprint too heavily.
Today has been a stark reminder that, 10 months into the job, sometimes Mr Sunak still struggles to take part of his party with him.
And as a result, he is now likely to have a second reshuffle before the end of the year.
The logic behind the three decisions today tells us much about Mr Sunak.
There is a perfectly sensible reason to replace Ben Wallace with Grant Shapps.
Mr Wallace had qualities that endeared him to many – his affinity with the military, his high standing with Tory members, his willingness to confront the Treasury and other ministers, and his pivotal role over Ukraine.
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But not all of these went down so well in Number 10, who felt this amounted to grandstanding on the world stage and endless demands for cash.
It was no secret in Westminster that the personal relationship between Mr Wallace and Mr Sunak was not the strongest.
So the Shapps appointment represents a different approach.
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Who is Grant Shapps?
A fast learner – as any cabinet minister who has had five jobs in the last year can expect to be – he will use this more high-profile approach to project the government’s message more widely.
Senior Tories know they don’t have many top-rank media performers (“it’s a bit eighth series Big Brother”, sighed one) – so an upside of the defence post is that it comes without the burdens of the energy job – where the incumbent risks being dragged into tricksy arguments about climate change and net zero.
Mr Shapps is not known for getting bogged down in fights with cabinet colleagues or arguments with the Treasury.
In general, he is well-liked – and last year was sufficiently confident to launch his own, albeit brief, leadership bid.
Such is the grumpiness of the Tory Party that this closeness is toxic for some, with one member of the government labelling Grant Shapps “an encyclopaedia salesman” – he was a businessman before entering government – and claiming this was a reward for helping to oust Liz Truss.
Yet Mr Sunak will see this as putting the demands of an upcoming election ahead of the need for depth of military or foreign affairs experience – a trade-off he will be comfortable with.
Replacing Mr Shapps in the energy brief is Claire Coutinho, one of the most loyal MPs to Mr Sunak in parliament.
A special adviser when he was chief secretary to the Treasury, a parliamentary aide when he was chancellor, and a senior figure on his campaign team, this former investment banker speaks the prime minister’s language.
Read more:
Is Sunak making a mistake with cabinet of allies?
The rise of Grant Shapps
Who is Claire Coutinho?
As a reward, she becomes the first 2019 intake MP to be catapulted into cabinet.
But she is a relatively unknown figure to many, and there will be an awful lot of Tory MPs who feel there are others (perhaps themselves) with greater qualifications.
She – along with Laura Trott, Victoria Atkins, Laura Farris and the highly tipped David Johnston, who was promoted to Ms Coutinho’s old job – form a new generation of loyalists for the new prime minister.
But many others, bruised by the Truss era, are hostile and suspicious of his decision to promote allies rather than reach across the party to find talent.
Back in May, there were suggestions this reshuffle might spell the end of Therese Coffey, the environment secretary, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, or even Suella Braverman, the home secretary.
What is not clear is whether things will be easier in November than they are now, the last days of August.
The election of a pro-crypto President in the United States and growing macroeconomic turmoil will continue to drive investors to Bitcoin.
Politics
Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
Read more:
Ex-Labour adviser suggests doing to farms ‘what Thatcher did to coal mines’
Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’
Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
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The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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