United Kingdom: Boris Johnson to reshuffle his government

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after weeks of intense rumors and as several ministers come under fire for their performance during the Covid crisis, will reshuffle his government.

"The Prime Minister will make a reshuffle today to put in place a strong and united team to build back better after the pandemic," a source told Downing Street.

“Yesterday, the Prime Minister presented his Covid management plan for the fall and winter.

But the government must also redouble its efforts to respond to the priorities of the population, ”she added.

Delicate autumn

This announcement comes at a delicate time for the 57-year-old head of the Conservative government, who arrived at 10 Downing Street in the summer of 2019 and largely won the legislative elections of December 2019, won with the promise to achieve the Brexit voted in 2016. A recent one poll from the YouGov institute showed a fall in popularity of the Conservatives (to 33%), overtaken by the Labor Party (35%) for the first time since the start of the year.

The government is paying in particular for the announcement of an increase in social security contributions intended to bail out the public health system brought down by the Covid-19 pandemic and to reform the dependency sector.

This brings the level of taxes to the highest since the post-WWII era despite the Conservatives' election promise not to raise taxes.

According to the British press Boris Johnson wants to part with some heavyweights in his government.

Education Minister Gavin Williamson is criticized for handling the closure of schools during the pandemic, Home Secretary Priti Patel for his failure to reduce arrivals of illegal migrants through the Channel and Foreign Minister Dominic Raab the failed evacuations from Kabul after the Taliban returned to power last month.

Among the possible promoted, the press often quotes the Minister of International Trade Liz Truss, currently responsible for concluding the new free trade agreements promised by Boris Johnson following Brexit, effective since January 31, 2020.