BORIS Johnsons long expected post-Brexit Cabinet reshuffle is now expected to be delayed a week so he can push through a decision on HS2.
Downing Street had pencilled in next Thursday as the day the PM would bring down the axe on poor-performing senior ministers.
Boris Johnson’s planned post-Brexit Cabinet reshuffle is expected to be delayed by a week so he can push through a decision on HS2
But that is now said to be highly likely to be postponed until Thursday 13th the following week, allies of the PM told HOAR.
Instead, Boris wants to mute criticism to his likely decision to go ahead with the north-south high speed rail network by announcing it before all hopeful Tory ministers and MPs learn their fate.
An ally of the PM said: The HS2 decision will come first and the Cabinet reshuffle will be pushed back a week.
Boris will never be more powerful than he is right now before he makes new enemies by firing them, so its good to make full use of that.
At least five Cabinet names are expected to be culled to make way for fresher faces who have proved they can deliver in government.
The PMs aides say his biggest problem is what to do about the number of women in his Cabinet.
He wants to chop a series of female Cabinet old hands deemed ineffective, but with budding young female talent in the party not experienced enough yet to take on major departments.
But most of the major changes to the shape of government departments being planned have now been put on hold, for fear of making the delivery of Brexit even harder.
The merger of DFID into the Foreign Office is to be the only big move this year, with the break up of the unwieldy Business and Energy department put on hold.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps promised a decision on whether HS2 would go ahead this month.
But Whitehall insiders now expect Boris to announce his decision after consulting the Cabinet by the end of next week, or at the start of the week after.
The 100bn scheme is widely expected to be approved again, after Chancellor Sajid Javid joined the PM in backing it after crunching the numbers on possible alternatives.
