9.30pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Lib Dem appointment news
8.45pm ToryDiary: Grayling and Hunt tasked with closing gap between Coalition and public on crime and health
7.45pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Latest batch of appointments released, including, finally 2005 intake MPs
6.30pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Another 2010 rising star, Sajid Javid MP, joins the Treasury front bench
6.15pm WATCH: Theresa May: "Across the board, we will see the next generation being brought on" during this reshuffle
6pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Four more 2010 intake MPs – Esther McVey, Helen Grant, Anna Soubry and Matthew Hancock – are appointed
5.45pm Local Government: Mark Prisk is the new Housing Minister
5.30pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: 2010 intake MP Liz Truss given charge of early years education
5.15pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Tim Loughton asked to step down as Education Minister – and Greg Clark MP and LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton join the Treasury
5pm Columnist Andrew Lilico: No discrimination without monopsony power!
4.30pm Ed Staite on Comment: Will the reshuffle help the Government to communicate?
4.30pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Downing Street releases latest batch of Ministerial appointments
4pm MPsETC: Conservative MPs react positively to the reshuffle
3.45pm ToryDiary: JUNIOR MINISTERIAL RESHUFFLE ROLLING BLOG
2.30pm RESHUFFLE: Boris reacts angrily to fellow third runway-sceptic Greening being moved away from Transport
1pm WATCH: Ken Clarke: "At my age" you have to step back from heavy departmental roles – or you find you can't handle them
12.45pm ToryDiary: Paul Goodman's immediate headline observations about reshuffle
12.30pm RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Greening to DfID, Miller to DCMS, and Grant Shapps appointed Party Chairman
12.15pm ToryDiary: Full post-reshuffle list of Cabinet members
11.30am RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Owen Paterson moves to DEFRA, Patrick McLoughlin to Transport
11.30am ToryDiary: Tim Montgomerie's immediate headline observations about reshuffle
11am RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Hunt to Health, Grayling to Justice, Lansley to Leader of the House and Villiers to Northern Ireland
10am RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Chris Grayling is likely to take over as Justice Secretary, ConHome sources say
9.45am RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Hunt and Greening will leave current roles and Iain Duncan Smith has turned down an offer of moving to the Ministry of Justice
8.45am RESHUFFLE UPDATE: Caroline Spelman will leave the Cabinet, and David Jones will replace Cheryl Gillan, reports say
ToryDiary: ROLLING RESHUFFLE BLOG
Also on ToryDiary: Andrew Mitchell must deploy his charm, not wield the cane
Alex Deane on Comment: A vitally important speech by David Davis
Matthew Oakley on ThinkTankCentral: How a northern pay-restraint-for-more-infrastructure deal would work
Local Government:
The Deep End: Shale gas – what a fracking liberty! Or is it?
WATCH: George Osborne booed at Paralympics
David Cameron embarks on his first major reshuffle
"David Cameron has embarked on his first major government reshuffle that will see a comprehensive clear-out of cabinet ministers who have failed to deliver successful change and the promotion of a new generation of fresh faces. The prime minister, who hopes to announce his new cabinet by Tuesday afternoon, has started to telephone ministers with the news that only those who can play a decisive role in the next delivery phase of the government can expect to keep their places in the cabinet." – Guardian
"Aides said that the changes across most government departments would herald a “new generation” who had shown that they could deliver results. “This is the delivery phase of government,” they added." – Times (£)
> Today:
> Coverage from yesterday:
Reshuffle comment:
Stop the excuses, start the tax cuts, says David Davis
"David Davis called for a swath of tax cuts and the scrapping of business red tape as he warned the Chancellor that he would not be excused if he failed to take drastic measures to kick-start growth. In a withering critique of the Government’s economic performance, Mr Davis accused ministers of seeking excuses, such as the eurozone crisis and the debt inheritance from Labour, rather than solutions. “An alibi is not a policy,” he said. “There is a risk that by focusing on parcelling out blame we accept our circumstances with too much fatalism.”" - Times (£)
> From today - Alex Deane on Comment: A vitally important speech by David Davis
> Coverage from yesterday:
Gove admits GCSEs were unfair… but says Labour is to blame
"Education Secretary Michael Gove yesterday admitted pupils who sat GCSEs this year were treated unfairly – but insisted he cannot intervene. He said new-style GCSEs inherited from Labour, which split courses into bite-size modules, were 'not best equipped to ensure that all students could perform well and be treated fairly'." – Daily Mail
> From yesterday - WATCH: Questioned in Parliament, Michael Gove rejects calls for him to intervene in the GCSE marking row
Daily Telegraph continues series in which "leading young Tory MPs" set out their ideas for growth
The second entry today is by Liz Truss: "Britain’s history is rich in science, from Isaac Newton to Alan Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. … Our universities produce more citations per researcher than the US, China, Japan and Germany. There are signs that the next generation sees where value lies: maths at university and A-level is increasing. But small change is not enough. Taking the tough option will have to become mainstream if we are to continue to lead the world in science. Our economic future depends on it."
> Yesterday on MPsETC: The Unchained Five and a turning point for the 2010 intake
Government 'planning new benefits cut'
"Ministers are considering slashing £71-a-week from the income of sick and disabled benefit claimants if they refuse to take part in work-related activities, it was reported last night. The move planned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is designed to reduce weekly Employment Support Allowance by up to 70 per cent to those who won't try to get back into the workplace" – Independent
Government push to reform planning laws could backfire, warns senior planning officer - Daily Telegraph
Policy Exchange says local public sector pay bargaining would save £6bn a year - Scotsman
> From today - Matthew Oakley on ThinkTankCentral: How a northern pay-restraint-for-more-infrastructure deal would work
George Osborne booed at Paralympics
"If he was hoping for some signs of improvement on recent poll findings showing that he is the most unpopular member of the government, George Osborne was in for a rude awakening at the Olympic Stadium. A chorus of boos rang out from the crowd at the announcer's mention of Osborne's name shortly before the chancellor presented medals to the winners of the Men's T38 400m, in which Mohamed Farhat Chida of Tunisia took gold." – Guardian
The Lib Dems would keep more seats with Vince Cable as leader rather than Clegg
"The Liberal Democrats would win almost twice as many seats at the next election under Vince Cable as they would under Nick Clegg, according to a ComRes survey… According to ComRes, the Liberal Democrats would win 18 per cent of the vote with Mr Cable as leader, compared to 14 per cent under Mr Clegg. Under [Cable], they would hold 39 of their 57 seats on a uniform swing, while under [Clegg] they would be left with only 23 MPs." – Independent
Janan Ganesh: Clegg's anti-Tory strategy has tainted not just this coalition, but coalitions in general
"The Lib Dems have flaunted disagreements with Mr Cameron… Only their commitment to the government’s fiscal strategy has remained admirably adamantine. Yet none of this ornery behaviour has lifted the Lib Dems’ dismal poll ratings. … What it has done is taint not only this particular coalition but coalition as a concept. Voters now overwhelmingly say they favour single-party government. As an existential threat to the Lib Dems, this is as menacing as the fact that they are struggling to score 10 per cent in the polls." – Janan Ganesh for the FT (£)
> From yesterday:
Clegg confirms Lords reform bill to be dropped
"Mr Clegg confirmed to MPs that the bill will be dropped because Labour and back-bench Conservatives refused to back a timetable motion to prevent it being talked out. The statement confirmed his announcement over the summer, which has also seen the Liberal Democrats pull out of a deal to back boundary changes to House of Commons constituency seats" - Scotsman
Mary Riddell: The cracks between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls could swallow Labour’s hopes
"Labour, unlike the Coalition, is free from deadly conflict. The danger is that the stasis caused by trying to accommodate two marginally different doctrines results in a political version of locked-in syndrome. Coalition blood-letting should offer no comfort to the Opposition. The consequences of paralysis can be just as fatal as those of war." – Mary Riddell for the Daily Telegraph
> Yesterday on LeftWatch, Tim Montgomerie explains how the Left went bad
Border Agency blamed for student visa 'chaos' – Independent
Young and low-skilled workers hit hardest as 'underemployment' rises – Guardian
More violence in Belfast, 50 policemen injured - BBC
EU to impose gender quotas on boardrooms – City AM
> Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics
likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on
political topics that haven't been given their own blog. Read our
comments policy here.