Andrew Marr has spelled out why another government reshuffle has exposed flaws at the heart of British politics as Rishi Sunak announced an overhaul of Whitehall.
The LBC broadcaster and former BBC political editor explained sarcastically why it is “a good system if you don’t want politicians to understand what they’re up to”.
Sunak’s sweeping shake-up comes just over 100 days after becoming prime minister, and follows months of chaos caused by the fall of Boris Johnson and the disastrous 49-day premiership of Liz Truss.
Through that period, ministerial posts were passed around with alarming regularity. In the space of four months, the UK had four chancellors of the exchequer.
Johnson’s tenure followed the Brexit-fuelled tumult under Theresa May, which saw repeated changes to her top team amid splits over a deal with Brussels.
On Tuesday, Marr said in his monologue: “Today the alphabet soup of government department has been diced and reassembled.
“England is getting her sixth housing minister in just 12 months. There have been five secretaries of state in charge of the department for culture, media and sport in five years.
“Ten education secretaries in ten years, one for every year since the Conservatives came to power. Nine Conservative Party chairmen in five years, four home secretaries in the last year alone, and six health secretaries in the last five years.
“It’s a good system if you don’t want politicians to understand what they’re up to, or to be in properly in charge. So well done all.
“But there was more – across Whitehall, more new acronyms, differently coloured doorplates, more rearranged office furniture and no doubt more slightly confused civil servants wondering who’d nicked the coffee machine.
“In all fairness, this might, just might, eventually mean more focus on net zero and even science … but at the expense of a lot of short-term fuss and commotion. You could call it the kerfuffle reshuffle.”
Sunak announced he is creating a new department for energy security and net zero amid promises to cut household bills and halve inflation.
The creation of four new government departments, aimed at boosting economic growth and addressing the energy crisis, marks a major reshaping of some key government departments.
Sunak also replaced sacked Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi with Greg Hands, who was trade minister.