Westminster Watch: Raab & Williamson Make Moves in Cabinet Reshuffle

Photo by Jamie Street from Unsplash

Last week, Boris Johnson, the prime minister, announced a major cabinet reshuffle which saw some high profile ministers lose their roles. Two of the most significant changes were Dominic Raab’s removal from the Foreign Office and Gavin Williamson being sacked from his role as education secretary.

Many who criticised the former foreign secretary’s handling of the crisis in Afghanistan last month will be pleased to see him leave the Foreign Office. However, he has been moved to a trio of new roles: lord chancellor, justice secretary and deputy prime minister.

Replacing Raab is Liz Truss, formerly the international trade secretary.

Another significant change to Johnson’s cabinet is the sacking of Gavin Williamson from his role as education secretary. Williamson, along with Robert Buckland and Robert Jenrick, has left government entirely and will be serving from the backbenches of the House of Commons.

The former education secretary was heavily criticised in August 2020 after it came to light that students who had sat their GCSEs and A-Levels were to be graded based on their postcodes, rather than submitted work and teacher estimates - a U-turn was quickly made on this decision.

Williamson has been replaced by Nadhim Zahawi, formerly the minister for Covid-19 vaccine deployment, a role created specifically for the rollout of vaccines.

 The UK parliament returned from summer recess on the 6 September and we are already seeing major changes to the composition of government, amid rumours of a possible election in 2023.