On 27 July 1999, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held his first major cabinet reshuffle of his government.
Background
It was considered that Health secretary Frank Dobson would stand in the 2000 London mayoral election against Labour-turned-Independent Ken Livingstone. But he denied accusations of him being moved out of government.
Mo Mowlam expected to be replaced as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by Peter Mandelson but this did not happen until October 1999. The reshuffle was anticipated as being the cull of Old Labour and the promotion of Blairites from the 1997 general election. It was reported that Alastair Campbell, Blair's Press Secretary, had influence over changes at Cabinet level.
The reshuffle was delayed by a week following Labour's unexpected success in the 1999 Eddisbury by-election.
Cabinet-level changes
- Margaret Beckett becomes Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
- The Baroness Jay of Paddington becomes Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, Leader of the House of Lords and Minister for Women
- Stephen Byers becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- Ann Taylor becomes Chief Whip, which became a cabinet position
- Jack Cunningham becomes Cabinet Office Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Nick Brown becomes Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- Alistair Darling becomes Secretary of State for Social Security
- Paul Murphy promoted to Secretary of State for Wales from Minister of State for Northern Ireland
- Peter Mandelson moves from being Minister Without Portfolio to being Trade and Industry Secretary
- John Reid becomes Transport Minister, which is no longer a cabinet position (although Reid will continue attending cabinet meetings)
- David Simon, Baron Simon of Highbury left as the trade minister responsible for preparing Britain joining the euro.
Ivor Richard, Harriet Harman, David Clark and Gavin Strang left the cabinet
The President of the Board of Trade ceased to be a title used by the Trade Secretary
Junior ministerial changes
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- According to the ministerial pay scale:Minister of State >
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State >
Parliamentary Private Secretary
Reception
The reshuffle was described as "problematic". Journalist Anne Perkins wrote in favour of scrapping cabinet reshuffles.
References
- "The government team". The Guardian. 1999-07-30. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- Watt, Nicholas (1999-07-05). "Blair will order Dobson to block Livingstone". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- MacAskill, Ewen (1999-07-10). "Dobson shakes cabinet truce". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- Watt, Nicholas (1999-07-05). "Mowlam expects Blair to move her in reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- Wintour, Patrick; McSmith, Andy (1999-07-25). "Purge of Labour's old faithful to make way for class of 97 in Cabinet". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- "Smell of fear in Whitehall as reshuffle fever reaches a peak". The Guardian. 1999-07-25. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- Ward, Lucy (1999-07-17). "Mowlam key figure in reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- MacAskill, Ewen (1999-07-26). "Simon set to go in Blair reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- "Monitor: All the News of the World: The Sundays give their views on who should be moved in the coming Cabinet reshuffle". The Independent. 1999-07-25. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- Perkins, Anne (1999-07-27). "It's time to scrap these reshuffles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
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