British PM May's new year cabinet reshuffle starts

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British Prime Minister Theresa May started her cabinet reshuffle Monday by naming Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis chairman of her Conservative Party, and later announced that she would appoint David Lidington as new minister for cabinet office, filling the job responsible for the administration of the government.

May said she hoped Lewis will re-energize an agenda hurt by divisions over Brexit and an ill-judged election.

The cabinet office position has been vacant since the resignation of Damian Green in December. Green also held a second role as May’s de facto deputy, but no appointment has been announced for that position yet.

David Lidington arrives at 10 Downing Street, London, January 8, 2018. /Reuters Photo

May’s office also said interior minister Amber Rudd and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond would continue in their role.

May, weakened by the loss of the Conservative Party’s majority in an election gamble last June, moved to reshuffle her team of top ministers after ending last year with a deal to shift talks with the European Union to a second phase.

She is expected to keep her team’s "big beasts" – her finance, Brexit, foreign and interior ministers – but may promote women, black and younger lawmakers to challenge critics who call her party “male, pale and stale."

Britain's interior minister Amber Rudd arrives to attend a cabinet meeting at Number 10 Downing Street in London, February 23, 2016. /Reuters Photo

The reshuffle, which will last for most of Monday, is part of the 61-year-old’s attempts to reassert her authority over not only her party, but also parliament, where she depends on the support of a small Northern Irish party to pass laws, especially those needed for Britain’s departure from the EU bloc.

"I‘m not a quitter. I‘m in this for the long term," May told the BBC on Sunday, a new mantra from a prime minister who has been mocked in the local media as a "Maybot" for her dogged repetition of catchphrases and policy statements.

Despite winning agreement from the EU to push Brexit talks to a discussion of future trade relations and a transitional deal, May has been criticized at home for her approach to healthcare, housing and transport among other issues.

In an early blow, her minister for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, stepped down because of ill health. He had been trying to help officials form a power-sharing government to avoid any return to violence between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists that scarred the province for decades.

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire, leaves Downing Street after a cabinet meeting, in central London, June 20, 2017. /Reuters Photo

But the biggest change so far was the appointment of Lewis to head the Conservative Party whose membership is plummeting after what many members acknowledge was a disastrous election campaign in June.

His appointment was almost derailed after the party was forced to delete a tweet congratulating transport minister Chris Grayling to the position, which members say has become increasingly important.

The main opposition Labor Party, under the leadership of leftist lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn, is enjoying some of the highest numbers of support in its history.

It will now fall to the 46-year-old Lewis to provide the leadership needed to attract younger voters and those in northern England if the governing party is to have a chance to win the next election in 2022.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May poses with Brandon Lewis and James Cleverly outside 10 Downing Street, London, January 8, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Lewis, who is popular in the party and was a supporter of May’s leadership bid last year, will take over from veteran minister Patrick McLoughlin, who had been criticized by some members for failing to broaden the appeal of the party.

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Source(s): Reuters