Theresa May shouldn’t overpromise on a reshuffle

Will Theresa May really go for a wide-ranging reshuffle in the next few weeks? Westminster wisdom has long been that it is dangerous to move your top team around, as sacked ministers make troublesome backbenchers. This does ignore the inconvenient truth that most of the trouble that May has faced over the past few months has come from within her Cabinet – albeit with an extra helping of Brexit rebels on the Conservative backbenches too.

She is understood to be deliberating over whether to appoint a direct replacement for Damian Green as First Secretary of State, though even if she scraps that role, there is still a hole to fill at the Cabinet Office and on the various powerful committees delivering policy from Brexit to social care. Jeremy Hunt appears primed for this job, with loyal media performances after Green’s departure, and a remarkable ability survive even fierce opposition while working as Health Secretary.