The cabinet is a group of politicians with really important jobs who meet about once a week to discuss how to run the country. A cabinet reshuffle is when the prime minister changes who is in charge of a particular department in government. Reshuffles can happen when someone resigns, when there is a political crisis or just because the prime minister wants to reward people and remove people who are not working hard enough. They can also be used to show a change of direction or priorities, or to improve performance in sectors that rely on direct and consistent departmental guidance.
In this special collection we are looking at the role of cabinet reshuffles in parliamentary democracies, and in particular how they relate to the wider political system, as well as exploring what factors actually affect when ministers ‘turn over’. Until recently, it has been widely accepted that cabinets reshuffle frequently in Westminster-type systems and that this practice has significant political and policy consequences. But this article argues that the wealth of factors actually at play makes the construction of general theories about reshuffles a challenging undertaking.
Our panel discussion looked at some of the key issues that have emerged from this cabinet reshuffle. Ann Treneman suggested that there had been a clear shift in direction in a few departments, but Tim Montgomerie thought this was less clear and emphasised the high degree of continuity across departments. Hilary Armstrong pointed out that the reshuffle was also an opportunity to promote women, but noted that there was a limited pool from which to recruit, so this might not always be possible.