2012 British cabinet reshuffle
British prime minister David Cameron conducted the first major reshuffle of his coalition government on 4 September 2012. The reshuffle, nearly two and a half years after the government was sworn in, was highly anticipated, and eschewed the trend of annual reshuffles which had become common under the governments of the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, many ministers had been in place not just since the government was elected in 2010, but had covered the portfolio in Cameron's shadow cabinet or even earlier; Andrew Lansley had covered the health brief since 2004, when Michael Howard led the Conservatives in opposition.[1]
Despite this, Cameron's room to manoeuvre was limited by his coalition agreement with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats, which guaranteed the minority party seats in government, and Clegg the right to select his ministers. Further, Cameron's personal aversion to reshuffles and belief that ministers were most effective when given time at a department led to him viewing many cabinet members, including the holders of the Great Offices of State, as immovable.[2]
The reshuffle, which was criticised by the
Changes in the ministry
Significant events
Grayling replaces Clarke as Lord Chancellor
Clarke's retirement from departmental office was viewed as a positive for both right-wingers and Eurosceptics in the Conservative Party, as Clarke was viewed as the Tories' most outspoken Europhile, and had been known as a liberal wet for decades. Clarke was replaced as Lord Chancellor by Chris Grayling, a Eurosceptic who was also considered far less friendly to both the Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human Rights, both constant sources of scorn amongst grassroots Tories.[9] It was also believed that the move would be advantageous to Home Secretary Theresa May, who had sparred with Clarke over the Human Rights Act during "catgate" during the previous October's Conservative Party Conference, and believed to be much closer in ideology to Grayling.[10]
Grayling was initially intended to replace
Grayling's appointment proved immediately controversial due to the fact that he was the first non-lawyer to become Lord Chancellor in centuries. This led to questioning of his ability to adequately perform his functions, such as building relationships with members of the judiciary,
Clarke's departmental retirement was met with sadness from many justice related pressure groups, including the
McLoughlin replaces Greening at transport
Boris Johnson, the Tory Mayor of London and perceived challenger to Cameron, attacked the move, calling Greening a "first rate Transportation Secretary" and saying that the "only reason" for it would be to clear a hurdle to building a third runway. Zac Goldsmith, a backbench London Conservative MP, went even further in attacking Cameron for the apparent U-turn, saying that "real leadership requires clarity" and that the move reflected "panic, not principle".[19]
See also
References
- ^ Martin, Iain. "David Cameron's reluctant reshuffle". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Martin, Iain. "David Cameron's reluctant reshuffle". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- London Evening Standard. p. 6.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick. "David Cameron's right turn in cabinet reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick. "David Cameron's right turn in cabinet reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick. "David Cameron's right turn in cabinet reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Hope, Christopher. "Iain Duncan Smith rejected offer of Justice secretary to thwart George Osborne over welfare reforms". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Rozenberg, Joshua. "Chris Grayling, justice secretary: non-lawyer and 'on the up' politician". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Cameron reshuffles his government: Politics live blog". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Murphy, Joe. "Poster battle to save Justine Greening from re-shuffle to prevent Heathrow runway expansion". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ Coates, Sam. "Two fingers and tears as reshuffle victims resort to gesture politics". The Times. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ "Greening's departure leaves Tories at war over Heathrow." The Independent (London). (5 September 2012 Wednesday ): 662 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date. Retrieved 2016/07/01.
- ^ "Greening's departure leaves Tories at war over Heathrow." The Independent (London). (5 September 2012 Wednesday ): 662 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date. Retrieved 2016/07/01.