Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle has been received at Westminster as an act of untrammelled political sovereignty by a leader who is the master of his party as he prepares for up to a decade in power. It is Johnson's first reshuffle without advice from Dominic Cummings but the political path it points towards is solidly within the spirit of Vote Leave.
Liz Truss's promotion to foreign secretary may not make much difference to Britain's foreign policy, although she will bolster the China hawks who are already dominant in Johnson's circle. But her retention of the women and equalities portfolio, which she shares with fellow culture warrior Kemi Badenoch, will help to set the populist tone of the government.
Nadine Dorries, once a strident opponent of gay rights, is the new culture secretary and will play a central role in negotiating the BBC's next charter. Her predecessor, Oliver Dowden, who tried to stuff the boards of arts organisations with Conservative supporters, will now be able to ventilate his prejudices among the party membership as its chairman.
Dominic Raab's demotion to justice secretary will allow him to apply his zealotry to Johnson's plan to curb the power of the courts to subject legislation to judicial review. It was a cause dear to Cummings's heart but it is also important to the prime minister, whose Merrie England libertarianism sits alongside an impatience with institutions that check his power.
Gove portfolio
Michael Gove’s portfolio includes housing and local government, which are important, as well as the “levelling-up” agenda and the union, which are supposed to be. All polling evidence suggests that the most effective thing the Conservatives could do to keep Scotland in the UK is to lose power at Westminster for a long time. But Gove, who is also responsible for elections, is unlikely to pursue that option.
Johnson has failed to define what levelling up means, notably in a speech last July when he said it required "the yeast that lifts the whole mattress of dough, the magic sauce, the ketchup of catch-up" that is leadership. If its meaning is obscure, its political purpose is clear: to hold as many former Labour-voting Red Wall seats without losing too many traditionally Conservative seats.
Johnson hopes to keep Red Wall voters onboard by funnelling public funds into infrastructure projects in key constituencies and appealing to their baser instincts by stoking the culture wars. His plan for social care announced last week is designed to appeal to traditional Conservatives by capping the sum they will have to pay over a lifetime and protecting their homes (and their children’s inheritance).
The Conservatives believe that Brexit is still a vote winner, despite the complications it has introduced for businesses, consumers and British travellers and expats. David Frost on Thursday promised to make a bonfire of EU regulations, starting by restoring the right to put the Crown Stamp on glasses of beer.
Pint glasses
The stamp, which was introduced at the end of the 17th century to reassure drinkers that they were not being conned, was replaced in 2007 with the EU’s CE mark.
“We will remove the EU-derived prohibition on printing the Crown Stamp on pint glasses and allowing publicans and restaurants to voluntarily embrace this important symbol on their glassware, should they choose to do so,” the government said.
The government is also reviewing restrictions on selling in pounds and ounces, which are part of EU legislation Britain retained after Brexit. But Frost also signalled more important changes, including the abolition of GDPR data privacy rules and EU restrictions on gene editing, genetically modified organisms and artificial intelligence.
A new commission will consider ideas from any British citizen about how to repeal or improve regulation.
“The commission’s job will be to consider such ideas and make recommendations for change – but they will only be able to make recommendations in one direction – in the direction of reducing, or eliminating, burdens. I hope in this way we will tap into the collective wisdom of the British people and begin to remove the dominance of the arbitrary rule, of unknown origin, over people’s day-to-day lives,” Frost said.
One of the myths about Johnson is that he has moved the Conservatives to the left by abandoning frugality and driving a tax and spend agenda. But as he protects the wealth and inheritance of the better-off, hikes national insurance paid by everyone in work and prepares to cut £20 a week from benefits paid to the poorest, Johnson’s actions tell the truth about his ideology and his place on the political spectrum.