The row over his sacking is a sign of a Party pulled in different directions by the way politics works – and by culture wars. Now a new competitor is knocking at the door.
Plus: People vote for me to shave off my beard. But the decision was only advisory. And did they have enough information…?
Strangely but truly, the best way of helping the Prime Minister is to send her back to Brussels to win concessions on the backstop.
A staple of stagecraft magic is misdirection. While his audience is gawping at one thing, the magician is swiftly doing another. So it may be now.
As Attorney General, he is telling his Cabinet colleagues what any proposals for a deal really mean – even if that’s inconvenient for Downing Street.
In all, there are 30 new entries in the whole list, one down on last year and two down on the 2016 record of 33.
That means making overdue decisions, settling internal disputes, and no more campaigning by the Treasury to undermine Brexit policy.
This ambitious 39-year-old is grappling valiantly with the Leveson problem, and no one does a better digital transformation.
It’s often suggested that the Remain wing of the Cabinet wouldn’t wear such a choice. I doubt it.
Most of the powers involved in ordering the Single Market are technical and trivial-seeming, but supporters of Section 11 of the Withdrawal Bill see danger ahead.
The Conservatives’ best chance of a majority is by winning over working class voters – who overwhelmingly and strongly oppose this daft policy.
Upholding the rule of law in the capital by defeating moped crime would be a good start.
There are only five days to go until the start of the Brexit negotiations. May cannot afford to make a reshuffle mess of a department from which she has now lost two Ministers.
The combination of a small majority, radical intent, a flow of power one way to Cabinet Ministers and another to key aides requires adjustment.
James Forsyth is the online editor of The Spectator and The Business. He blogs regularly for the Spectator’s Coffee House… Read more »