Characterless peas in a pod: the reshuffle of the bland

Few politicians today have had real, demanding jobs before entering politics – and it shows

New Education Secretary Nicky Morgan
(Image credit: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Would you cross the road to shake hands with any of the new members of the Cabinet? Would you indeed recognise them should you run into them? The answer to both questions is probably ‘No’.

Tired prime ministers, leading exhausted governments, have a mystical faith in ministerial shake ups. Harold Macmillan sacked seven members of his Cabinet in 1962 in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’: it proved as futile in restoring his government’s popularity as erecting a sand barrier to halt a tsunami.

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Robert Chesshyre writes regularly on police culture and is a former US correspondent of The Observer. His books include ‘The Force: Inside the Police’ and 'When the Iron Lady Ruled Britain''.