No wonder the civil service ‘blob’ are in control

So, there we have it. The tiniest of Cabinet reshuffles caused by Ben Wallace stepping down as Defence Secretary. He is replaced by Grant Shapps who takes up his 5th, yes 5th, Cabinet job in the last 12 months. Widely considered a lightweight by his colleagues and without any relevant Defence experience, he is nevertheless seen as a good communicator. Forget about the Ukraine war. He got the job apparently because Sunak didn’t want one of his better spokespeople bogged down at Energy when he reneges on some of his green policies to exacerbate a cultural war with Labour.

Grant Shapps and his dizzying change of roles…

And you wonder why people despair of politics?

The Civil Service often directs government in individual departments simply in the absence of any knowledgeable ministers who have an agenda and stick around. Of course, reshuffles are part of a Prime Minister’s armoury but not to the extent of the chaos of recent years. The Tories’ record has been lamentable.

Here are just a few statistics on the number of office holders in key posts since 2019:

• Chancellor: 5
• Home secretary: 4
• Housing secretary: 4
• Health secretary: 4
• Business/Energy secretary: 5
• Education secretary: 6
• Northern Ireland: 4
• Trade: Role 3

How can this lead to decent long-term policy making? How on earth can ministers keep up to speed with the detail of their latest role and provide stable leadership in their departments? Political expediency is everything now, more than ever before if you look at comparable statistics of ministerial turnover going further back. And the public notice, becoming wearier and more cynical with each change.

Overwhelmed by Brexit, then Covid and a merry-go-round of ministers, the Civil Service, for all its faults, one suspects is often just trying to keep the show on the road. It is not so much the ‘blob’, just the professional arm of government.