A cabinet reshuffle is a change to the composition and/or allocation of ministerial responsibilities within a given government administration. Reshuffles are often promoted by the prime minister when there is a resignation or when there has been a political scandal that has affected a cabinet member’s reputation, but they can also take place for other reasons. Among other things, a reshuffle allows the prime minister to refresh his or her top team by introducing new MPs into the cabinet or reassigning responsibilities between departments in order to reallocate priorities and competences.
Discussion of the topic commenced with a recognition that, while reshuffles may be seen as a tool for political control by prime ministers and other party leaders, they also have important policy implications, particularly for sectors which rely on direct departmental guidance from the central government (e.g. health, education, social care). Ann Treneman thought that the recent reshuffle was a good example of this and argued that it showed that David Cameron had been weak, but Tim Montgomerie pointed out that not everyone would have noticed the changes or that they represented a major shift in policy direction.
The next stage of the discussion focused on a comparative analysis of the way in which reshuffles work in different government systems. Specifically, it was suggested that there are three distinct ‘modes’ of reshuffle: a reactive mode; a proactive mode and an ‘extreme reshuffle’ mode. These modes differ in the level of activism and interventionism by the principal, but they all involve the reallocation of responsibilities within a cabinet.
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