Jenrick’s departure prompts mini-reshuffle

The post of Immigration Minister in 2023 has the potential to be as much of a poisoned chalice as the role of Brexit Secretary in 2018. Robert Jenrick’s departure last night created a difficult problem for No. 10. Anyone succeeding him would need to be unshakeable on immigration: a ‘sound as a pound’ right-winger, in the words of one Brexiteer. This morning we have our answer: Tom Pursglove, perhaps the most right-wing member left in Sunak’s government takes up the newly-created post of Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery.

In a classic bit of Whitehall jiggery-pokery, Jenrick’s role has been split in two. Pursglove takes the legal brief while Michael Tomlinson becomes the Minister for Illegal Migration. The latter move creates a vacancy in the Attorney-General’s Office, filled by Robert Courts after just 43 days as chair of the Defence Select Committee. All three men are Brexiteers: Courts quit as a PPS under Theresa May over her Chequers plan while Tomlinson is a former deputy chairman of the European Research Group.