The prime minister may have hoped a reshuffle would reset his government and re-energise his party.
After a King’s Speech privately dubbed by some Conservative MPs as “lacking in vision” and bitter briefings between Rishi Sunak and his former home secretary Suella Braverman, Downing Street today argued that the new cabinet appointments represented a unified government.
“Our Prime Minister believes that collective responsibility is a very important principle,” Rishi Sunak’s press secretary told reporters.
“And he believes it’s important that Government and therefore senior ministers speak with one voice.”
But according to some MPs I have spoken to the latest shakeup of government has left the conservative party more divided than ever.
Within the right of the party, it’s clear many of Ms Braverman’s supporters believe her departure has left a void within the government as it gears up for a difficult week on migration.
If, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court rules that the UK’s plan to deport migrants to Rwanda is unlawful, it will likely reignite calls for the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights.
Many MPs believed Ms Braverman was a vital ally on this issue and argued her tough rhetoric on immigration spoke for them and for voters.
“I’ve had some constituents warn that if we got rid of Suella, they’d switch to Reform,” one said.
And the return of Lord David Cameron, who stepped down as PM in 2016 after the UK voted to leave the European Union, has left several Tories incensed.
“It has not gone down well with the right of the party at all,” argued one Tory. “It feels like a deliberate snub to Euroskeptics, having our foreign policy led by a remainer”.
This afternoon, Downing Street faced accusations it has abandoned red wall voters and Brexiteers.
Number 10 said that it was focused on “looking to the future” not the past.
Yet the reshuffle has been welcomed by many within the left of the party, who had feared the Conservatives were alienating voters in blue wall seats within the South of England.
“This puts us back in the running to our core voter base, the people in the shires who were becoming disillusioned,” one senior Tory told me. “People will applaud the party’s return to common sense”.
This evening, Dame Andrea Jenkyns became the first Conservative MP to publicly issue a letter of no confidence.
Writing to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, she said she was fighting for “true Conservativism” as she urged other Tories to follow suit.
Many MPs I have spoken to have voiced skepticism over whether the party could stomach yet another leadership campaign.
“People are unhappy but who would replace Rishi – we’d be a laughing stock if we tried,” one senior Tory said.
Rishi Sunak may be keen for a fresh start, but it seems past divisions and party wounds may prove difficult to shake off.
Source : ITVX
