The Cabinet ministers whose jobs are under threat as No10 plots reshuffle ...Middle East

Attorney General Lord Hermer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy could find themselves in the firing line in the first Cabinet reshuffle being plotted by Sir Keir Starmer’s top team, The i Paper understands.

A senior No10 source flatly denied any plans for a reshuffle were already in motion. But elsewhere in Downing Street, those surrounding Starmer are understood to be in the early stages of planning a rejig of the PM’s senior team.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is also at risk of being moved, it is understood.

There is a sense among senior party insiders that late spring or early summer will be the first chance the PM has to reshape his senior team without it seeming like a panicked recalculation.

Reports suggesting Chancellor Rachel Reeves could be demoted – and replaced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper – have been rubbished by senior government sources.

“Rachel is going nowhere,” a senior government source said.

Insiders said that, despite the economic challenges piling pressure onto the Chancellor’s strategy for growth, there is no suggestion the PM would be prepared to cut ties with her.

However, Government insiders and MPs are beginning to privately discuss the fate of other senior figures in the Cabinet.

Attorney General Richard Hermer has faced criticism for his handling of the Chagos deal (Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

In recent weeks, Attorney General Richard Hermer’s handling of the Chagos Island deal has been criticised by senior Labour figures and is said to have frustrated No10 insiders after the issue emerged as a political stumbling block for the government in its first months in office.

The row over Mauritius’s demands – and the failure to shut them down – has led political figures surrounding Starmer to believe that Hermer has displayed a lack of political instinct.

They fear he could end up acting as a blocker to delivering tangible policy to convince voters the new government is making progress rather than being bogged down by procedure.

Nandy at risk of demotion over her attendance in Westminster

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is also understood to be at risk of being demoted because some in No10 believe she cannot be relied upon to show up at events, or Commons statements, when requested to do so. It it understood that there have been complaints within No10 that Nandy is spending too much of her time at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in Salford.

Lisa Nandy is Starmer's secret weapon against Reform - if he decides to use her

Nandy has emerged as one of the great survivors of Starmer’s Labour, having already been demoted in the shadow cabinet before eventually securing the role of Secretary of State. She was handed her post after Thangham Debbonaire – who had been due to become Culture Secretary – lost her Bristol seat to the Green Party in one of the few election night upsets for Labour.

That Nandy goes against the grain of the Westminster cut and thrust makes her popular with voters – with some pointing out she could be a useful tool for the PM in the fight against populist parties like Reform.

But her lack of compliance has not gone unnoticed among the ruthless political operators close to Starmer, The i Paper understands.

Bridget Phillipson has been spearheading Labour’s reforms to Ofsted inspections and VAT on private schools fees (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Another minister who has raised eyebrows among those operating behind the scenes in No10 is Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

Questions have been raised over her handling of the Ofsted reforms, with critics complaining the decision to replace one-word judgements with report cards was too similar to the previous system, it is understood.

And she has been accused of being too ideological and therefore hampering her ability to successfully sell the policy of scrapping VAT relief for private schools.

Those at the top of the political team around Starmer, led by Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, have recently ousted several figures they believed to be getting in the way of delivery – Sue Gray, Louise Haigh and even friend and constituency neighbour of the PM Tulip Siddiq.

But a reshuffle of Nandy and Philipson, in particular, could pose a headache if either of them were to refuse another ministerial role and end up on the backbenches – leaving them free to publicly critique the government.

Labour MPs have also been gossiping about who could be moved in the reshuffle, The i Paper understands.

In the Commons tea room, speculation is rife that Hermer and Nandy could be the most significant reshuffle casualties – although one MP said the chats were currently contained to “smaller groups” and not “wide open discussions”.

And there has even been chatter about whether Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband could be demoted – a reflection of the government’s political challenge in trying to retain its green credentials while facing accusations of watering down climate policies.

Reshuffle could fall in late spring or early summer

One Government source said they would not expect any changes to happen before May. They argued it would be the ideal opportunity to “freshen things up” after the March spending review and early May local elections.

Another said the period in the wake of the local elections marks the end of the post-general election period, where it would look too soon to hold a reshuffle.

It would also offer Starmer and McSweeney an opportunity to use a reshuffle to refresh the narrative around this Labour government after a potentially challenging set of local elections due to the threat posed by Reform UK, they suggested.

Rumours of splits in Downing Street have largely subsided since the axing of the former chief of staff Gray, who was said to be at odds with Starmer’s political team, and the appointment of James Lyons to improve what was considered to be the faltering communications operation.

But there are still understood to be tensions over how to control the political narrative.

Whitehall sources revealed No10 had intervened on civil service briefings to journalists – which is standard practice in government departments when announcing a new policy – with senior figures demanding every one contains a political voice.

There is a sense that – despite holding all the power – the political team are seeing threats everywhere.

“They don’t want civil service talking to the media,” one said. “Telling departments not to do background briefings unless there is a political voice in the room. The system is pushing back. All very Alistair Campbell!”

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