Theresa May carried out the first reshuffle of her minority government in January 2018. Following the resignation of her deputy, Damian Green as First Secretary of State in December 2017, the reshuffle had been highly anticipated and briefed in the press. There were reports of "up to a quarter" of her cabinet ministers who might lose their positions, including Boris Johnson, who had been seen to cause a number of political gaffes during his term as Foreign Secretary. The reshuffle was seen as an opportunity for May to reassert authority, greatly diminished following the result of the snap general election the previous year. Despite being described by 10 Downing Street as a chance to "refresh" the Cabinet, few changes were made to the ministerial line-up. On 9 January, newspaper headlines reflected the chaotic nature of May's reshuffle, with The Daily Telegraph describing it as, "The Night of the Blunt Stiletto", a reference to the 1962 reshuffle carried out by Harold Macmillan.
It was widely reported Jeremy Hunt was due to be moved from the Department for Health to become Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, but refused. Instead he defended his position as Health Secretary and convinced May to allow him to remain in post, and for "Social Care" to be added to the name of his department. After considerable speculation Justine Greening would lose her job as Education Secretary, she refused the offer of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and chose instead to resign from the government.
Cabinet-level changes
Junior ministerial changes
Whips' Office appointments
Conservative Party appointments
Reaction
The reshuffle was widely considered a political failure, falling short of the expectation for a radical shake-up. The Guardian called it a "pointless luxury" that would cost the government, and Gary Gibbon of Channel 4 News noted it had revealed the Prime Minister's weakened position, naming the reshuffle the "Night of the Long Plastic Forks". Writing his editorial in the London Evening Standard, George Osborne credited May with orchestrating "the worst reshuffle in modern history".
Resignation of Justine Greening
Justine Greening was reported to have spent over three hours inside 10 Downing Street, discussing her political future with the Prime Minister. Despite being offered the position of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Greening refused to leave the Department for Education, describing it as being her "dream job". Soon after she emerged from Number 10, her formal resignation was announced and May expressed her disappointment at the decision. In a statement on Twitter, Greening wrote: "Social mobility matters to me & our country more than my ministerial career." – some thought this to be alluding to her criticism of May's grammar schools policy.
Many commentators wrote of their dismay at Greening's resignation. Melissa Benn, founder of the Local Schools Network, described her departure as "bad news for anyone who cares about education," and Stephen Bush wrote in the New Statesman that May's treatment of her Education Secretary "makes no sense at all". Bush reasoned Greening was a successful minister who did not deserve demotion to Work and Pensions, and her return to the backbench could add a vote to the bloc of anti-Brexit Tory MPs, given that she represented Putney, a heavily pro-Remain constituency. Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, praised Greening as "a real role model for LGBT+ Conservatives", and Labour MP Jonathan Reynolds tweeted that: "A Conservative Party which can find a role for Toby Young but not for Justine Greening is one that can be beaten." Faisal Islam of Sky News reported a number of Conservative MPs had privately expressed their anger at Greening's treatment, calling it a "dreadful error".
Failure to move Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt's meeting with the Prime Minister lasted over an hour, during which time Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, had arrived. Hunt and Clark were expected to swap jobs but Hunt refused, convincing Theresa May to allow him to stay at the Department and to widen his brief to include social care. May's willingness to accept Hunt's request was seen as a sign of her diminished authority, which she had hoped to improve by carrying out such a reshuffle.
Comparison were drawn between Hunt's success at persuading May to allow him to continue in his role, and Justine Greening's failure to do so. Anonymous Tory MPs were quoted as saying the Prime Minister had "caved into boys but not a woman", expanding the brief of a disloyal minister while forcing a loyal one to resign.