Boris Johnson appoints new chief of staff in No 10 shake up after aide resignations
ITV News Political Correspondent David Wood reports on how the growing Tory revolt is increasing the pressure on the PM in the wake of a series of aide resignations
Boris Johnson has installed one of his most senior ministers as chief of staff in a bid to help relaunch his premiership after it has been undermined by a series of lockdown breaking parties.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay is to become the prime minister's chief of staff, replacing Dan Rosenfield as the PM's top special adviser.
Downing Street said he will be "in charge of integrating the new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office, driving the Government’s agenda more efficiently and ensuring it is better aligned with the Cabinet and backbenchers”.
The MP for North East Cambridgeshire will also continue his role in the Cabinet Office.
Following the announcement, Mr Barclay, a former Brexiteer and Brexit Secretary, said he is looking forward to working closely with the PM.
Guto Harri, Mr Johnson’s spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor, is to become his director of communications.
The former BBC journalist quit GB News last year following a row over him taking the knee during a debate on the racism directed towards England football players.
He will replace Jack Doyle, who was reportedly at two of the 12 events that are under investigation by police looking at alleged lockdown breaches.
“The changes I’m announcing to my senior team today will improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country,” Mr Johnson said.
But deputy leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner, who also shadows Mr Barclay, said: “The Prime Minister has clearly run out of serious people willing to serve under his chaotic and incompetent leadership so now expects a Cabinet minister to be his chief of staff. “This is a farce. Being No 10 chief of staff is a 24/7 job so if Steve Barclay is taking it on as his third job then Tory MPs and the public can have no confidence that the dysfunction in Downing Street will come to an end."
On Saturday, it emerged that Mr Harri had said just over a week ago that the PM's integrity was “hard to judge” and those who had previously worked for him did not want to go into No 10 to “walk him to the gallows”.
Will the PM's new appointments improve his political fortunes? David woods provides some analysis
More announcements of Mr Johnson's top team are expected in the coming days, with what No 10 said would be a “particular focus on improving engagement and liaison with MPs”.
The shake-up came after two more Conservative MPs, including a former minister, became the fourteenth and fifteenth MPs to publicly call for Mr Johnson to go, with both announcing they had submitted letters of no confidence in the prime minister's leadership. Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Mr Bell wrote on Friday that the "breach in trust" caused by alleged lockdown-breaking parties at No 10 makes the PM's position "untenable", while former schools minister Mr Gibb called for the prime minister to go in an article in The Telegraph.
The latest calls for Mr Johnson to go bring the total number of Tory MPs to do so to 15, with nine stating they have submitted letters of no confidence in the PM.
The Sunday Times also reported on Saturday that special adviser Henry Newman, a friend of the PM’s wife Carrie, would leave No 10 and would likely return to work with his old boss Michael Gove.