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.
‘Absolute nightmare’ coming for NHS as strikes announced – politics latest
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
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 SEC responded shortly after the issuers filed effective registration amendments for staked SOL and Ether exchange-traded funds.
IMF questions Pakistan’s plan to allocate 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Bitcoin mining amid energy shortages and budget talks.
There is “no doubt” the UK “will spend 3% of our GDP on defence” in the next parliament, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey’s comments come ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday.
This is an assessment of the state of the armed forces, the threats facing the UK, and the military transformation required to meet them.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously set out a “clear ambition” to raise defence spending to 3% in the next parliament “subject to economic and fiscal conditions”.
Mr Healey has now told The Times newspaper there is a “certain decade of rising defence spending” to come, adding that this commitment “allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.”
A government source insisted the defence secretary was “expressing an opinion, which is that he has full confidence that the government will be able to deliver on its ambition”, rather than making a new commitment.
The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence, with Sir Keir announcing plans to increase that to 2.5% by 2027 in February.
This followed mounting pressure from the White House for European nations to do more to take on responsibility for their own security and the defence of Ukraine.
The 2.3% to 2.5% increase is being paid for by controversial cuts to the international aid budget, but there are big questions over where the funding for a 3% rise would be found, given the tight state of government finances.
While a commitment will help underpin the planning assumptions made in the SDR, there is of course no guarantee a Labour government would still be in power during the next parliament to have to fulfil that pledge.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
From March: How will the UK scale up defence?
A statement from the Ministry of Defence makes it clear that the official government position has not changed in line with the defence secretary’s comments.
The statement reads: “This government has announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War – 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow, including an extra £5bn this financial year.
“The SDR will rightly set the vision for how that uplift will be spent, including new capabilities to put us at the leading edge of innovation in NATO, investment in our people and making defence an engine for growth across the UK – making Britain more secure at home and strong abroad.”
Sir Keir commissioned the review shortly after taking office in July 2024. It is being led by Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general.
The Ministry of Defence has already trailed a number of announcements as part of the review, including plans for a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command and a £1bn battlefield system known as the Digital Targeting Web, which we’re told will “better connect armed forces weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions for targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster”.
Read more:
Trump to double tariffs on steel imports
Why stockpiling vapes could be dangerous
Last hospital in northern Gaza out of service
PM Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey on a nuclear submarine earlier this year. Pic: Crown Copyright 2025
On Saturday, the defence secretary announced a £1.5bn investment to tackle damp, mould and make other improvements to poor quality military housing in a bid to improve recruitment and retention.
Mr Healey pledged to “turn round what has been a national scandal for decades”, with 8,000 military family homes currently unfit for habitation.
He said: “The Strategic Defence Review, in the broad, will recognise that the fact that the world is changing, threats are increasing.
“In this new era of threat, we need a new era for defence and so the Strategic Defence Review will be the vision and direction for the way that we’ve got to strengthen our armed forces to make us more secure at home, stronger abroad, but also learn the lessons from Ukraine as well.
“So an armed forces that can be more capable of innovation more quickly, stronger to deter the threats that we face and always with people at the heart of our forces… which is why the housing commitments that we make through this strategic defence review are so important for the future.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway