Theresa May Cabinet Reshuffle: First Departure is Ulster Minister Resignation, Citing Ill Health

British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to make a number of changes in the composition of her cabinet Monday, with movements anticipated to predominantly focus on junior positions.

While Westminster pundits have reported the senior ministers including Home Secretary, Chancellor, and Foreign Secretary minister will remain in post, up to a dozen other cabinet posts are expected to change, with the possibility of new ministerial positions created to support the Brexit process.

Update 20:00: Justine Greening quits cabinet

Justine Greening, the former Education Secretary quit the cabinet Monday evening after reportedly having turned down a sideways move to the Department of Work and Pensions. The MP, who was hailed as being a trailblazer in the education department as the only lesbian in cabinet and the first state-educated education secretary championed social justice and social mobility causes during her 18 months in post.

The Times Education Supplement reports the Prime Minister found Greening “patronising” and had been seen to be actively campaigning to keep her job in recent weeks.

Greening has been replaced as Secretary of State for Education by Damian Hinds, who was Work and Pensions minister.

I wonder if @JustineGreening 's resignation is linked to the fact most parents don't want their children indoctrinated by the latest #64genders nonsense she's been focussing on rather than the nuts & bolts of education.#Greening#Reshuffle#CulturalMarxism

— Ben Harris-Quinney (@B_HQ) January 8, 2018

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The first official change of Monday was the announcement that close Theresa May ally James Brokenshire was taking the opportunity of the cabinet reshuffle to stand down from his position of Northern Ireland secretary, citing ill health. He is expected to be undergoing major surgery in the coming weeks for a lung condition, reports the BBC.

This news was followed by the departure from cabinet Sir Patrick McLoughlin, and his replacement with Brandon Lewis, who has become the new Chairman of the Conservative Party and sits in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio. 2015 intake MP James Cleverly has joined him as deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.

Lewis had until today been the Minister of State for Immigration and was the first minister to have been summoned to No.10 to meet with the Prime Minister this morning. Veteran Sir Patrick McLoughlin leaves cabinet after eight years, serving under May and Cameron, and has previously served in John Major and Margaret Thatcher’s cabinets.

The reshuffle took on a bizarre twist Monday morning as the official Conservative party Twitter account tweeted an image congratulating Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling on becoming the chairman of the Conservative party. The Tweet was deleted moments later.

Grayling is a close ally of the Prime Minister, having been the campaign manager for May during her successful campaign to become the leader of the Conservative party.

Honoured and delighted to be appointed by the PM as Vice Chair @Conservatives for Communities. pic.twitter.com/dRsACTBM9x

— Rehman Chishti (@Rehman_Chishti) January 8, 2018

Asides cabinet movements, there have been a number of appointments within the Conservative Party itself Monday, with a grand total of eight new Vice Chairs at CCHQ being drawn from the parliamentary party, with positions including a Vice Chair for Local Government going to Marcus Jones, and a Vice Chariman for Policy going to Chris Skidmore.

The reshuffle comes after the disappointing result for Mrs May in the June 2017 general election, in which she and her party defied expectations to consolidate their position in parliament to actually lose seats.

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