Boris Johnson begins rebuilding Downing Street team - Financial Times

Boris Johnson should be given “time and space” to lead, the UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urged on Sunday, as the prime minister battled to shore up backbench support with a shake-up of his Downing Street team.

Following a chaotic week, which saw the departure of five senior officials and public criticism from cabinet ministers, Steve Barclay, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was appointed Johnson’s chief of staff.

Guto Harri, a former BBC journalist and communications director during Johnson’s first term at City Hall as London mayor, will become the prime minister’s director of communications.

Disgruntled MPs say they are willing to give Johnson more time but expect further changes to his operation to be announced in the coming days. The prime minister’s allies say he is considering replacing his team of Tory whips in the House of Commons, as well as a possible ministerial reshuffle.

“Change is needed in the whips office,” said one backbench Tory MP. “I am also sick of ministers being promoted who are clearly incompetent.

“It’s a team game and loyalty is important but we need brains and intelligence in the key positions and people who don’t routinely bomb during media interviews and [at] the despatch box.”

David Canzini, who works at the political consultancy CTF Partners, is understood to be in talks to join Johnson’s Downing Street team.

The move to reset his team comes as Johnson contends with more letters of no confidence in his position and a police investigation into possible Covid-19 lawbreaking at the heart of his government.

Nine Tory MPs have publicly declared they have submitted letters of no confidence in the prime minister but senior ministers think there may be as many as 40 overall. A threshold of 54 letters is needed to trigger a confidence vote.

Sir Charles Walker, a traditionally loyal Tory MP and former vice-chair of the 1922 Committee, told The Observer newspaper that Johnson’s departure had become an “inevitable tragedy”.

However, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told the BBC that Johnson “has got a clear mandate and we have got to give him time and space to deliver on that mandate”.

The recent appointments to his team were “a step in the right direction”, Kwarteng said.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory party leader, agreed Johnson should be given time to sort out “the big, big crises that are hitting the government”, adding: “As far as I’m concerned the prime minister is the one that has to sort this out.”

Speaking to the BBC, the MP also urged those vying for the leadership to “temper their ambition”. An internecine war in the party should not be the priority as the country grapples with a cost of living crisis, he said.

Steve Barclay voted to leave the EU and is a close ally of the chancellor Rishi Sunak © AFP via Getty Images

Johnson was forced to start building a new team over the weekend after the departure of senior aides.

Under Barclay, officials hope there will be fewer factions, clearer lines of accountability in Downing Street and a more simplified structure.

Barclay campaigned to leave the EU and is a close ally of the chancellor Rishi Sunak, who publicly criticised Johnson’s conduct last week. Insiders said Barclay’s appointment was designed to appease Sunak’s frustration with the Downing Street operation.

The departure of a key member of the so-called “Carrie camp” of advisers working in Downing Street, referring to those said to be close to the prime minister’s wife Carrie Johnson, was also noted by backbench MPs as a sign real change was afoot.

Henry Newman, once noted by Mrs Johnson to be among her “favourite people”, has been moved from his role as a senior adviser in Number 10 to work for levelling-up minister Michael Gove.

Mrs Johnson’s allies claim she is the victim of a briefing war by people close to Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former adviser who was ousted in November 2020 and has since become one of the prime minister’s most ardent critics.

Reports circulated over the weekend about Mrs Johnson, who has been accused of negatively influencing her husband’s decision-making.

Her spokesperson said: “Yet again Mrs Johnson has been targeted by a brutal briefing campaign against her by enemies of her husband. This is just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials to discredit her. She is a private individual who plays no role in government.”

Additional reporting by George Parker

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzQ1NTBhMWZkLWE5OTEtNDEzYy04YTA4LTJhYzYxYzFhZDJiNdIBAA?oc=5

2022-02-06 13:06:15Z
1283291105