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Friday, 29 March 2024

UK's Johnson tightens grip with reshuffle

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UK's Johnson tightens grip with reshuffle
UK's Johnson tightens grip with reshuffle

Britain's finance minister, Sajid Javid, resigned after Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanded he sack his advisers to replace them with Johnson loyalists.

It made waves amid what was meant to be a low-key reshuffle.

Lucy Fielder reports.

Political turmoil in London on Thursday when Prime Minister Boris Johnson shook up his cabinet -- and jettisoned a senior member who didn't toe the line.

Sajid Javid was still finance minister on his way into Number 10 Downing Street, but ended up tendering a shock resignation once inside.

Because he was told to fire his advisers and replace them with others from Johnson's own office.

It's a sign of how Johnson wants to tighten his grip on government and suggests he won't tolerate dissent.

A source quoted Javid as saying 'no self-respecting minister would accept those terms'.

It shook up the 'business as usual' image Johnson wanted to portray as he gets down to the nitty gritty of sorting out Brexit.

The prime minister quickly appointed an ultra-loyalist, Javid's deputy Rishi Sunak, as replacement chancellor.

Another cabinet member was in for a surprise -- Northern Ireland Minister Julian Smith.

Fired just a month after he helped broker the restoration of government in the British province after a long hiatus due to political deadlock there.

His firing was condemned by politicians on both sides of the Irish border.

Opposition politicians called Johnson's reshuffling a mess.

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