‘No point climbing the greasy pole’: Tory ministers want out in reshuffle

Sunak has been keen to assemble a cabinet largely in his own image – unflashy and low-profile – and is likely to prioritise others who fit this mould in a reshuffle. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AP

With a general election approaching, some Conservative ministers fear they won’t just be out of government in 18 months’ time but ejected from the House of Commons altogether.

With that in mind, and talk of a reshuffle next Friday growing, some admit privately they have signalled a desire to move to the backbenches. Doing so allows them to start running down the clock on the up-to-two-year ban that can be imposed on taking up a private sector job after leaving Whitehall.