Boris Johnson’s position as prime minister and party leader looked unassailable. He was, it was said not so long ago, eyeing another ten years in power.
But then in November a botched attempt to block the suspension from the Commons of Tory MP Owen Paterson over sleaze blew up in Johnson’s face, fracturing party discipline.
Then came revelations that No.10 staff, Johnson included, had attended gatherings during lockdown. Some of the PM’s initial denials became apologies as details spilled out.
An internal inquiry - eventually handed to Sue Gray - was launched. A police investigation is also underway. The prime minister could be fined for breaking his own Covid rules.
Furious Tory MPs have demanded he resign. Potential successors including Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are circling.
In just over a week, there has been a radical shakeup of the people running No.10. On Tuesday Johnson also conducted a mini-reshuffle, moving around some ministers with key posts related to party management.
The PM’s hope is the changes will be enough to stop his own MPs opting for a more radical shake-up - getting rid of him.
Who’s out
Munira Mirza
The resignation of No.10′s policy chief on Thursday was unexpected. Mirza had worked for Johnson since his days as London mayor and was incredibly close to the prime minister. In her resignation letter she cited Johnson’s “scurrilous” attempt to blame Keir Starmer for Jimmy Savile escaping justice as the reason she chose to abandon ship.
Mirza’s decision to quit was her own, and undoubtedly a huge blow for the PM. But the departures that followed were part of a plan to clear out of the building those implicated in the partygate row.
Dan Rosenfield
Rosenfield was Johnson’s chief of staff, the top special adviser in No.10 who was brought into Downing Street following the departure of Dominic Cummings. Sue Gray’s long-awaited report slammed “failures of leadership” in government, which made his departure seem inevitable.
Martin Reynolds
Reynolds, Johnson’s principal private secretary, had sent the email inviting Downing Street staff to the infamous “bring your own booze” gathering in the garden of No.10. If staff were going to take the blame for the rule breaches rather than Johnson, it was unlikely “Party Marty” would survive.
Jack Doyle
Doyle, a former Daily Mail journalist, was Johnson’s director of communications as the partygate scandal exploded. He was reportedly at two of the 12 gatherings that are under investigation by police looking at alleged lockdown breaches. Leaving No.10, he said the events had taken “a terrible toll” on his family.
Who’s in
Steve Barclay
The Cabinet Office minister has been given a whole new full-time job, replacing Rosenfield as Downing Street chief of staff. He has been charged with reforming No.10 and integrating a “new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office”.
But questions have been raised about how Barclay will have time to run No.10, serve in the cabinet and also be a constituency MP at the same time. Dr Catherine Haddon, from the Institute for Government think-tank, said it was “not compatible to have a minister carrying on those duties with being full time chief of staff” as the job was “more than full time. It’s man marking the PM”.
Guto Harri
The former BBC journalist served as Johnson’s comms director when he was London mayor and has been brought back into the fold to replace Jack Doyle. But he has got off to something of a rocky start, having given an interview in which he dubiously defended the PM as “not a complete clown” and revealed Johnson sang “I Will Survive” when interviewing him for the job. He’s also facing questions over revelations he lobbied government on behalf of Chinese tech giant Huawei while working for a public affairs firm.
Andrew Griffith
Elected the MP for Arundel and South Downs in 2019, Griffith has replaced Mirza as the new head of the No.10 Policy Unit. Before entering parliament he served as chief financial officer for Sky. Griffith is a longtime ally of the PM, having let Johnson use his £9.5m Westminster townhouse to plot his first days in office.
Who’s been shaken
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Rees-Mogg has been one of the most vocal defenders of Johnson in recent weeks. On Tuesday he was moved from his job as Commons leader to a new role as Brexit opportunities minister. He will also now be a full member of the cabinet. While the shift is arguably a promotion, it takes him away from managing Commons business and also potentially robs him of the limelight.
It was Rees-Mogg who masterminded the failed plan to prevent Paterson from being suspended from parliament over sleaze. It was that decision, in November last year, that caused huge unrest on the Tory benches and sowed the seeds of the PM’s current problems with his own backbenchers. Nevertheless, his loyalty to Johnson meant his position near the heart of power was never under threat.
Mark Spencer
As chief whip Spencer’s job was to ensure party discipline. Several Tory MPs have submitted formal letters of no confidence in Johnson. More have called for him to resign in public. Rishi Sunak has also only offered lukewarm support for the PM. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Spencer is no longer chief whip. He has been moved sideways to replace Rees-Mogg as Commons leader.
But the switch is not an entirely smooth one. Spencer also played a role in persuading Johnson to try and block Paterson’s suspension. And he has been accused of telling Tory MP Nusrat Ghani she lost her job as a minister because her Muslim faith made people feel uncomfortable - a charge he denies.
Chris Heaton-Harris
The long time ally of Johnson has taken on the role of chief whip, having already been part of a shadow whipping operation designed to shore up the PM’s support on the Tory benches. He has experience in the job of party enforcer, having served in the role for the Conservatives in the European Parliament. A Brexiteer, he resigned as a minister during Theresa May’s time in power in protest at her decision to extend Article 50. He was once accused of “McCarthyism” for writing to universities to ask them they provide him with a list of professors who taught European affairs.
More changes are expected in the coming days, including a replacement for Martin Reynolds as Johnson’s principal private secretary in No.10. Johnson’s fight to save his job is not over yet