Boris Johnson has hired a Brexiteer minister as his chief of staff in a bid to save his career by ‘returning to Tory values’.
The embattled prime minister has chosen Steve Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to be his most senior aide.
He has also hired Guto Harri, a trusted former City Hall aide and ex BBC journalist, as communications chief.
Mr Harri, a remainer, quit GB News last summer after he was suspended for taking the knee during a discussion about racism towards England’s black footballers.
The PM said the shakeup of No 10 would ‘strengthen the role of my
Cabinet and backbench colleagues and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country’.
Mr Johnson added: ‘This week I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.
‘We need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving people’s opportunities regardless of where they’re from.’
The prime minister is fighting for his political life following months of reports of lockdown parties in No 10, including some he is said to have attended himself. A report by civil servant Sue Gray published on Monday found ‘serious failures’ at the heart of government – though its findings were pared down due to the Met Police’s criminal investigation into the allegations.
Over a dozen backbenchers have publicly called for the PM to go. Nine have confirmed they have written letters of No Confidence, though the number could be higher as MPs don’t have to make the decision public.
Mr Barclay’s role is intended to reassure Tory backbenchers that the government will break away from the interventionist era of the pandemic and return to the small state conservatism championed by Mr Johnson before he entered Downing Street, reports The Telegraph.
The former Treasury minister is an ally of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his appointment is also likely to help thaw relations between No 10 and No 11.
Downing Street said the new chief of staff will be ‘in charge of integrating the new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office, driving the government’s agenda more efficiently and ensuring it is better aligned with the Cabinet and backbenchers.’
More announcements are expected in the coming days with what No 10 said would be a ‘particular focus on improving engagement and liaison with MPs’.
It comes after five members of Boris Johnson’s top team resigned within 24 hours on Friday.
Three of the departed senior aides were caught up in the lockdown parties row, including senior civil servant Martin Reynolds, who sent out an invitation to the ‘bring your own booze’ event in May 2020.
No 10 said they left as part of a planned clear-out following the publication of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report into the scandal.
But policy chief Munira Mirza, previously one of the prime minister’s longest standing and most loyal aides, quit over the PM’s false claim that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions, and his refusal to apologise.
And despite using a ‘change is good’ quote from the Lion King as a rallying cry to Downing Street staff, another policy adviser, Elena Narozanski, walked out the door yesterday morning.
Mr Barclay replaces Dan Rosenfield as the Prime Minister’s top special adviser, and will also continue his role in the Cabinet Office and as an MP.
Mr Rosenfield’s position was considered untenable when Sue Gray’s interim inquiry criticised ‘failures of leadership’ at the heart of government.
Mr Harri will replace Jack Doyle, who was reportedly at two of the 12 events that are under investigation by police looking at alleged lockdown breaches.
Although considered an ally of Mr Johnson, having worked with him during his first term as London Mayor, he has been critical of the PM and called him a ‘hugely divisive figure’.
It has already been announced that Tory MP Andrew Griffith would replace Mirza as policy chief.
The new appointments come at the end of a difficult week for the PM.
Last night Ex-minister Nick Gibb became the latest Tory to confirm he had written a no confidence letter to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 backbench committee.
Hours earlier Red Well MP Aaron Bell also said he had written a letter and believed the PM’s position was ‘untenable’.
What is the 1922 Committee and how does it work?
The group, which is formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the body which represents backbench Tory MPs. It acts as a forum for the rank and file to liaise with the government and plays a crucial role in organising Tory leadership elections.
The phrase ‘men in grey suits’, which refers to the Tory big hitters who hold sway in the party behind the scenes, has become synonymous with the committee. Its current chair is Sir Graham Brady.
Under 1922 Committee rules, Conservatives MPs can force a leadership election by submitting letters of no-confidence to the chair. A confidence vote is triggered if 15% of the parliamentary party submit the letters (that works out as 54 MPs). The letters are submitted anonymously and there is no public tally.
If the threshold is reached, a secret ballot of Tory parliamentarians will be held. Mr Johnson would need a simple majority of his own MPs to back him in order to hold on to his position.
Is he lost a confidence vote, the Tories would elect a new leader - and new prime minister - in a race which Mr Johnson would be barred from standing in. It’s unclear if he would remain PM during the election or whether an interim would take the reins while the process played out.
54 no confidence letters are needed to trigger a vote.
Some cabinet ministers are said to have privately given the PM a 50/50 chance of survival.
But culture Secretary Nadine Dorries insisted the ‘vast majority’ of Conservative MPs supported Mr Johnson during a toe-curling interview earlier on Saturday.
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