May begins UK Cabinet reshuffle

Bloomberg

Prime Minister Theresa May began an overhaul of senior ministers on Monday, stamping her authority on the UK government at the start of high-pressure year for Brexit.
Boris Johnson stays on as Foreign Secretary, as widely predicted. Johnson, who led the official campaign to take Britain out of the EU in the 2016 referendum, is seen as May’s biggest rival inside the Cabinet. Despite causing May trouble on Brexit policy in recent months — prompting calls for his demotion — Johnson gets to keep his job.
In one minor change, Sajid Javid, previously secretary of state for “communities and local government”, now has “housing” added to his title. It’s a signal that May wants to underline her commitment to solving UK’s housing shortage. For younger voters, trying to get on the property ladder was seen as a key concern at last year’s general election.
David Davis keeps the job he’s held since it was created in the aftermath of the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. It was expected that he would stay in place, and May is confirming she wants stability at the top of her negotiating team as Brexit talks enter their most pressurised period this year.
May’s office confirms Amber Rudd retains her Cabinet job as Home Secretary. As one of the so-called great offices of state, May retains a key ally in a top position. It was announced later that Philip Hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer, is also staying put. He and Rudd represent the most high-ranking EU-friendly voices in government.
May’s office announces David Lidington will take on the role of Cabinet Office minister. The job involves coordinating work across the government on a variety of policy issues. So far, he has not been given the additional title of “first secretary of state” — effectively May’s deputy leader. This role was previously held by Lidington’s predecessor at the Cabinet Office, Damian Green.
James Cleverly becomes Brandon Lewis’s deputy. Kemi Badenoch — a rising star under 40 born to parents of Nigerian origin — becomes vice chair of the party along with Maria Caulfield, James Morris, Rehman Chishti, Andrew Jones, Ben Bradley, Marcus Jones and Helen Grant. Badenoch specifically is a new lawmaker who introduced May at the Conservative Party conferences and is an avowed Brexit supporter. May’s office confirmed Brandon Lewis becomes Chairman of the Conservative Party and as a minister without portfolio. He replaces Patrick McLoughlin, who has been at the front-line of Tory party politics since Margaret Thatcher’s time.
A popular figure within the party, he will have to prepare the party for the next election — scheduled for 2022 — and work out how to tackle the impressive organisational power of Momentum, the pressure group which backs Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Following a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations late last year, May starts 2018 in a stronger position than she
has enjoyed any time since her disastrous general election performance, which saw the Tories lose their Parliamentary majority.