After she took over as leader of the Tory Party almost two years ago – seeing off challenges from James Cleverly, Mel Stride and Priti Patel – Kemi Badenoch pledged not to hold a reshuffle before the next general election.
Part of her reasoning was to mollify the disappointed big beasts who could have tried to topple her in her first few stumbling months as leader.
That she has now broken her pledge and ruthlessly dispatched Stride and Patel – as well as preventing other old Tory veterans such as Grant Shapps from returning as MPs – shows, insiders say, that she is finally strong enough to create a top team in her own mold.
Shorts
Clevelry, meanwhile, stood down on Saturday to run for Mayor for London in two years time – hardly a display of confidence in his Parliamentary career prospects.
