Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle reveals the identity crisis at the heart of the Conservative party. Are the Tories the party of tax cuts or of fiscal responsibility? Are they the party of levelling up or the City? Do they want to improve institutions or wreck them? With the sacking of Suella Braverman from the Home Office and the return of David Cameron as foreign secretary, it would be tempting to think Mr Sunak’s shift was a victory for a more recognisable, centre-right politics. But that assessment would be premature.
Mr Sunak has failed to restore trust in his party after the bedlam of the Truss government. The shakeup of his team illustrates how hard it is for the Tories to escape their own chaos.Demoting his health secretary in the middle of negotiations with the doctors’ union to end industrial action spells panic. It is a desperate sign to replace the party chairman a year before an election. No voter thinks a housing emergency of rocketing rents and soaring evictions will be solved by the 16th housing minister since 2010.
