Government reshuffles - What is a reshuffle?
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Home > Government reshuffles
Government reshuffles
What is a reshuffle?
A reshuffle is when government ministers are moved between posts. They can be relatively minor – for
example, if a minister resigns and needs to be replaced – or they can be quite significant transformations, with
several cabinet ministers changing departments or leaving government, and ministerial roles (or even entire
departments) being created or removed.
Reshuffles also occur when a new prime minister from the same party takes office between general elections.
They form a new government, but will usually keep some of the ministerial team of his or her predecessor.
When a general election results in a different party taking office, the entire government is replaced, though the
process of appointing ministers occurs in the same way as reshuffles.
Why do prime ministers decide to hold reshuffles?
Cabinet and party management: The appointment and dismissal of ministers is an important part of a
prime minister’s power. Through their patronage, they can reward loyalty and punish dissent, build
alliances, and manage their party by making sure all the factions within it feel represented in government.
Performance management: Reshuffles are an opportunity to promote high-performing ministers by
moving them into positions of greater responsibility, and to remove those not doing well in an attempt to
improve departmental performance.
To signal policy shifts: Moving ministers around can be a way of indicating a government’s priorities.
Adding new ministerial roles or changing which ministers can attend cabinet during a reshuffle is another
way of doing this, as is making changes to the responsibilities of government departments.
To refresh: Reshuffles are a way to avoid seeming stale, and to introduce newer and younger MPs to
the government. Refreshing the government through a reshuffle can be an attractive option when a
government is unpopular – in May 2006, following disappointing local election results for Labour, Tony Blair
held a wide-ranging reshuffle.
Because of events beyond their control : Prime ministers can be forced to reshuffle their government
for unexpected reasons – for example, if a minister resigns, loses their seat in an election, or for any other
reason can no longer serve in the government.
Are there disadvantages to reshuffles?
1
Proportion of ministers per department by appointing PM (Updated: 14 Feb 2022) [2]
[3]
[4]
Ministerial churn: Excessive turnover makes it harder for individual ministers to build up expertise about
their department, and makes it harder for parliament to hold ministers to account for the outcomes of their
action. Regularly changing a department’s leadership can harm policy implementation [5] and result in
wasteful changes of direction. Since 1997, the average tenure of a cabinet minister has been less than two
years.
Empowering political rivals: Using reshuffles as a means of exercising party discipline can backfire.
When a prime minister sends a critical rival to the backbenches, they release them from collective cabinet
responsibility. This makes them free to criticise the government openly, potentially undermining the prime
minister’s authority.
Can reveal weakness: It is not uncommon for ministers to be unhappy with the outcome of a reshuffle –
for promotions to take place, there usually need to be some demotions, or at least sideways moves. But
sometimes ministers can gamble by refusing to take up a less prestigious position and threatening to
resign if not left in place. This happened in 2009, when Gordon Brown tried to move Alistair Darling [6] from
the Treasury, and in 2018 [7], when Theresa May tried to move Jeremy Hunt [8]from the Department of
Health and Social Care. On both occasions, the prime minister opted to back down rather than lose the
minister to the backbenches – revealing an unfavourable balance of power between PM and cabinet.
How often do reshuffles happen? [9]
2Changes in secretaries of state by department and party (Updated: 07 Feb 2022) [11]
[12]
[13]
Since Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, there have been 84 reshuffles. This works out at an
average of just under two per year. Most of these were held to accommodate minor changes, usually after
resignations. However, 21 were unforced (i.e. not prompted by resignations, sackings or a general election).
Seven further reshuffles were held when an incumbent party won a general election. There is no obligation to
hold a reshuffle in these circumstances, although almost every prime minister in that position since 1945 has
done so (Anthony Eden in 1955 and Harold Wilson in October 1974 are the exceptions).
Four reshuffles [14] since 1979 have been prompted by a prime minister resigning and being replaced without an
election – when John Major, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson took office.
How many ministers move posts at a reshuffle? [15]
Since 1979, unforced reshuffles have seen an average of 4.3 secretaries of state change post. Prime ministers
are more likely to make bigger changes when they return to office following a general election win, instigating
an average of 6.1 secretary of state changes.
When a new prime minister takes over mid-term, the size of the reshuffle is even greater. Reshuffles after
Major, Brown, May, and Johnson took office saw an average of 8.5 secretary of state changes.
How do reshuffles work in other government systems? [16]
Reshuffles are most common in parliamentary systems, where ministers are drawn from the legislature.
In political systems where the executive and legislative branches of government are separated, reshuffles are
less common. This may be because ministers are often appointed on the basis of their qualifications to oversee
a specific department or policy area, rather than for reasons of patronage and party management.
In some countries, cabinet appointments by the executive need to be approved by the legislature, which also
provides an incentive to avoid regular changes of post – this is the case in the US, where the Senate has to
confirm appointments.
Update date:
Monday, February 14, 2022
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Links
[1] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/file/proportion-ministers-department-appointing-pm-100222png [2]
3https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/prime-minister-appointed-ministers [3] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Proportion
of ministers per department by appointing
PM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instituteforgovernment.org.uk%2Fprintpdf%2F9410%23chart_1582824748&via=instituteforgov
[4] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/chart-
images/Proportion%20of%20ministers%20per%20department%20by%20appointing%20prime%20minister%20100222.png [5]
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/government-reshuffles-keeping-ministers-post-longer [6]
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-reflect/person/alistair-darling/ [7]
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/cabinet-reshuffle-live-blog-january-2018 [8]
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-reflect/person/jeremy-hunt/ [9] http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?
text=How%20often%20do%20reshuffles%20happen%3F%0A [10] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/file/reshuffles-secretary-
state-chartpng [11] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/changes-secretaries-state [12] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?
text=Changes in secretaries of state by department and
party&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instituteforgovernment.org.uk%2Fprintpdf%2F9410%23chart_1582824791&via=instituteforgov
[13] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/chart-images/Government%20reshuffles%20explainer%20-
%20secretary%20of%20state%20chart.png [14] https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/new-government-july-2019-live-blog
[15] http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How%20many%20ministers%20move%20posts%20at%20a%20reshuffle%3F%0A [16]
http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How%20do%20reshuffles%20work%20in%20other%20government%20systems%3F%0A
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