A cabinet reshuffle involves changes to the composition or allocation of ministerial responsibilities within a government administration. It is most common in systems where the head of state has strong executive powers that can include the power to declare war and use nuclear weapons, but is less common in other political systems with more robust citizen or legislative control. The decision to reshuffle the cabinet is generally made by the prime minister. This can be triggered by resignations, scandals or poor election results, but also for other reasons. Reshuffles may be used to introduce new MPs into the cabinet, promote or demote ministers, and reassign policy priorities.
Reshuffles are often a response to ministerial churn: when ministers have been in post for too long and are seen as being out of touch with the public. They can also be a way to inject new ideas into the cabinet or signal shifts in policy direction – moving Nadhim Zahawi from the Department for Education to the Department of International Development, for example, signals a focus on global development.
However, reshuffles are not without controversy. Excessive churn can undermine ministerial expertise and policy implementation, and make it hard for parliament to hold ministers accountable for their decisions. They can also empower political rivals by removing them from collective cabinet responsibility, allowing them to criticise the government openly. Furthermore, using reshuffles as a mechanism of party discipline can backfire – as happened when Gordon Brown moved Alistair Darling from the Treasury and Theresa May tried to move Jeremy Hunt out of Health and Social Care.
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