UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to carry out a mini reshuffle of his Cabinet on Tuesday. AFP.
London: The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to carry out a mini reshuffle of his Cabinet on Tuesday and is likely to make major changes to government departments.
The possible rejig is seen as Sunak’s effort to re-set his premiership after a bumpy first 100 days in office.
The reshuffle in Sunak’s Cabinet comes mere a week after he sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi over his tax affairs, after which the UK government fell further behind the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
Also, pressure is mounting on Sunak as the opposition parties as well as some lawmakers in his own party has been demanding sacking of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who is facing an internal investigation over allegations of bullying.
The ruling Tory Party in the UK is around 20 points behind the Labour opposition in most polls, and in the face of a possible general election defeat expected to be held by the end of next year.
The Sunak government has also been facing clamouring calls in his own party to cut taxes.
New names in senior roles
A report by BBC said that the UK government is expected to announce some new names in senior roles. The weekly Cabinet meeting has also been pushed back by an hour.
The report mentioned sources saying that Trade Minister Greg Hands could be a possible successor to Zahawi.
If Hands becomes the new party chairman, then Sunak will have to look for a new trade minister for his government.
Business department to split in 3 ministries
A report by Reuters quoted sources saying that Sunak is considering breaking up the government’s business department into three separate ministries.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) could be split up to see a new energy department, with business and trade merged.
As per a report by The Sun, there could also be a new science and digital department.
The report further said that the department for digital, culture, media and sport could also be broken up with culture and sport as their own standalone departments.
Sunak’s current key priorities
Sunak said that his government will concentrate on tackling five priories including cutting inflation and reducing illegal migration as he seeks to win the next election.
On Monday, Sunak’s spokesperson said Britain wants to tackle the issue of migrants arriving in small boats while remaining compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Reports said Sunak might consider leaving the ECHR if the British law were challenged by its human rights court.
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