Theresa May's ministerial reshuffle hands expanded role to Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt will continue as Health Secretary but with a considerably expanded role as part of Theresa May’s cabinet reshuffle.

In a major alteration to his remit Mr Hunt will now be the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The move brings the issue of social care into the scope of central government, after Mrs May’s party was criticised late last year for failing to mention the matter in the 2017 Budget.

Days before the Chancellor’s November speech, a group of 90 MPs wrote to the PM demanding cross-party action to tackle a growing crisis facing social care.

David Gauke has been appointed Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, and Brandon Lewis was earlier named as chairman of the Conservative Party.

The process got off to a chaotic start when the Conservative Party Twitter account announced that Chris Grayling had been appointed to Mr Lewis’s role, before deleting the tweet soon after.

Lewis replaces Sir Patrick McLoughlin as Conservative party chairman, who has paid the price for the party’s failure at last year’s snap general election when the Tories saw their Commons majority wiped out.

Elsewhere, David Lidington has been appointed cabinet office minister and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. James Cleverly has been appointed deputy party chairman.

Lidington replaces first secretary of state Damian Green who was forced to resign last month after admitting he lied over allegations pornographic material was found on his Commons computer during a police raid in 2008.

Housing has been added to the remit of communities secretary Sajid Javid.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is understood to have resigned from the Cabinet due to ill-health.

According to reports, May will appoint a Cabinet minister for a ‘no deal’ scenario, but Brexit secretary David Davis will remain in his post.

Justine Greening, the education secretary, is expected to be the most high-profile victim of the reshuffle.

The prime minister was expected to move or sack a quarter of her cabinet as she seeks to re-establish her authority.

Number 10 sources have indicated that the more junior ministerial appointments would continue into a second day on Tuesday.

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Downing Street has confirmed that Philip Hammond will remain as chancellor of the exchequer, while

home secretary Amber Rudd and Davis will also remain in their present posts.

Boris Johnson will also remain as foreign secretary despite a series of high-profiles gaffes and interventions over Brexit that many considered to have undermined the prime minister.

Sajid Javid MP remains in his post as communities secretary, with his job titled changed to secretary of state for housing, communities and local Government

Business Secretary Greg Clark and the Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom are reported to be vulnerable.

It is thought that Mrs May will take the opportunity to bring forward some more junior ministers, with justice minister Dominic Raab among those tipped for promotion.

The Daily Telegraph reported she will appoint a “minister for no deal” specifically to prepare for the eventuality that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement, with the post likely to go to Steve Baker – a prominent Leave campaigner who is already a Brexit minister.

The Prime Minister is also believed to want more women and MPs from ethnic minorities in her team with Suella Fernandes, the leader of the backbench Eurosceptics, Seema Kennedy and Rishi Sunak among those who could enter the Government for the first time.

Speaking at the weekend, Mrs May insisted she still wanted to lead her party into the next election due to take place in 2022, declaring: “I’m not a quitter. I’m in this for the long term.”

But pressed on whether she would still be there the next time the country goes to the polls, she appeared to acknowledge that the decision may not be entirely down to her, saying: “Obviously I serve as long as people want me to serve.”