Making sense of the new government and the processes involved

Wednesday 7th September, 2022

The British government can seem odd in that every so often (in this case with a change of leadership), some of the MPs that work in a department will be redeployed to a different role, or dismissed from a ministerial role to sit on the government backbenches. That is not how the public is used to operating in their workplaces – it would be highly irresponsible if the new boss of an NHS trust sacked a consultant to be replaced by a junior doctor – but if done well, there is good reason for it in politics.

An efficient government requires the whole team to be singing from the same songsheet, for the ‘government line’ (agreed position on a subject) to be consistent, for ministers to be highly capable and for there to be harmony in their relationships with each other. Of course, government policies must also be in favour with the public. This was the problem in the most famous example of a reshuffle, dubbed ‘The Night of the Long Knives’, where in 1962, Harold Macmillan sacked and replaced one third of the members of his Cabinet.

The new government announced today is largely constituted by those who lent their support to Liz Truss during her leadership campaign. Traditionally, this has been regarded as a weakness because those who are opposed to her policy plans are now free to publicly criticise them. Those in the Cabinet and in ministerial roles are expected to stick to the agreed position or resign if they do not do so. Therefore, those without a government role, which include those who have already spoken out against Liz Truss’ policies, run no risk of losing a job if they continue to do so. Dissenting backbenchers can make it difficult for governments to pass their policies into law if there is enough opposition.

The counterpoint is that Liz Truss and her team have had a few months to plan for this and she has chosen people that she has very good relations with to serve in big roles – notably Thérèse Coffey and Kwasi Kwarteng – which will increase the chances of a having harmonious Cabinet. There has also been time to establish to what extent there will be resistance from backbench Conservative MPs.

The actual process of assembling a new Cabinet begins with a small team around the leader who advise on who might work well in a particular department and whether they would be likely to accept the job. Reshuffles can take a long time because there will be MPs who do not want the job offered to them and it is sometimes necessary to rejig the original plan to accommodate for that. This time it seems to have proceeded relatively efficiently. It would be unusual for there to be any sackings or resignations for a long while yet (excepting in the case of impropriety or incapacity) but ‘mini-reshuffles’ are common mid-term events where ineffective ministers are replaced. It must be done with care, as adding a scorned MP to the backbenches is unhelpful, especially as these events typically come at times when public opinion of the government is diminishing.

For now, the UK has a new government, with plenty of new appointees and plenty for each of them to learn about their new department and responsibilities. Most will be in action at the despatch box in the House of Commons over the coming weeks and in the media, so keep eyes and ears out for them and pay close attention to what they say. Commentators and reporters are very useful for understanding those bits that politicians might try to conceal, but the House of Commons is where our laws are formed and that should be of prime interest to anyone who cares about politics.