Rishi Sunak opposes Friday cabinet reshuffle

There has been strong speculation that Rishi Sunak will reshuffle his cabinet on Friday. the figures were released with suspicions that a shake-up was imminent.

Downing Street remained silent on the issue for most of the morning after a surprise victory in the by-election in Uxbridge on Thursday evening, but eventually confirmed that no change in the cabinet was in sight.

This means that the prime minister is now expected to wait until MPs return from summer vacation to make changes to the team of senior ministers he chose last fall.

Ben Wallace, the outgoing secretary of defense, and James Cleverley, the foreign secretary, were among the senior Tories who spoke openly about the possibility of a reshuffle this week.

Mr Wallace said he had heard from a «very senior» civil servant that the reshuffle was taking place this week, but added that he was not sure when that would happen.

BYELECTIONS — Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Mr Cleverly took advantage of his appearance in America to plead with Mr Sunak not to fire him from the Foreign Office after reports that he could be given a defense note.

“If anyone in the UK is watching, listening – especially you, the Prime Minister – I really want to stay put,” he said during a speech at a security conference in Colorado. «Sometime in the future you will see nail marks on the hardwood floor in my office if someone tries to drag me out of there.»

Changing senior ministerial positions is not impossible in the summer, but is generally considered unlikely because MPs often go abroad for vacations when Parliament is in recess.

The Tories, pushing for reshuffles before the holidays, have argued that giving cabinet ministers time to go to bed in their new departments before the fall hits may have been wise.

But others warned that changing ministers after a series of difficult by-election results is something ri lost two seats badly, clinging to third — could cause panic.

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Every time there is a shake-up, number 10 insiders point out that allies of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are most at risk of leaving their posts.

Mr. Truss.

But with Mr. Johnson no longer an MP, the disgruntled Conservatives have no obvious leader successor to rally behind, leaving the Prime Minister in a stronger political position.