Justine Greening quits and Jeremy Hunt digs in as Theresa May endures reshuffle nightmare
3 min read
Justine Greening quit the Government while Jeremy Hunt fought off attempts to remove him as Health Secretary as Theresa May's much-heralded New Year reshuffle descended into farce.
On a day of high drama, Ms Greening rejected the Prime Minister's attempts to move her from the Department of Education to become Work and Pensions Secretary following a two-hour meeting in Number 10.
Esther McVey, who was only appointed deputy Chief Whip two months ago after being returning to parliament last June, becomes Work and Pensions Secretary instead. Damian Hinds replaces Ms Greening as Education Secretary.
Ms Greening said: "Social mobility matters to me and our country more than a ministerial career. I'll continue to work outside of government to do everything I can to create a country for the first time that has equality of opportunity for young people wherever they are growing up."
Her departure could prove a major headache for Mrs May, given she was a passionate Remainer and could now form an alliance with the likes of Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry on the backbenches.
A government source said: "Justine was offered DWP, but declined to take it - the PM is disappointed but respects her decision to leave the Government."
Earlier, Jeremy Hunt has rejected the Prime Minister's attempts to make him Business Secretary after the pair clashed over the NHS during heated talks in Downing Street.
At the end of the meeting, Mr Hunt remained as Health Secretary, but had responsibility for social care added to his brief.
A Number 10 source said: "They discussed the integration of health and social care Prime Minister set out her view, which Jeremy agreed with, that there had not been sufficient progress so far.
"At the end of the conversation, she said 'I'd like you to stay as Health Secretary' and he accepted."
However, the source did not deny that the Prime Minister had planned to make Mr Hunt the new Business Secretary.
Greg Clark, the current Business Secretary, then met with the Prime Minister and was told he would be keeping his job. It has also been confirmed that Claire Perry will become a Minister of State in the Business Department, and will attend Cabinet meetings.
Overall, the reshuffle demonstrated Theresa May's inability to make any significant changes to her top team, with no fewer than 14 ministers keeping their jobs.
They included the Cabinet big beasts of Boris Johnson, Philip Hammond, David Davis and Amber Rudd.
There was also embarrassment for the Conservatives when the party's official Twitter account wrongly announced that Chris Grayling was their new chairman.
In actual fact, that job had gone to immigration minister Brandon Lewis, with Mr Grayling remaining as Transport Secretary.
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