UK's Johnson to shake up Cabinet, eyeing pandemic recovery

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to shake up his Cabinet on Wednesday as he attempts to move on from a series of political missteps and U-turns

APTOPIX Britain Politics (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will shake up his Cabinet on Wednesday, attempting to move on from a series of political missteps and U-turns.

Johnson’s office said the prime minister would appoint “a strong and united team to build back better from the pandemic.”

Several underperforming ministers in the Conservative government could lose their jobs, including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab who faced strong criticism last month for delaying his return from a holiday in Greece as the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is also under fire for his performance during the pandemic, which has seen long periods of school closures, sudden policy shifts and the cancelation of major exams two years in a row.

Johnson carried out a sweeping government shuffle after his December 2019 election victory, sidelining lawmakers considered insufficiently loyal or lukewarm in their support for Britain’s departure from the European Union. That left him with a strongly pro-Brexit top team, but critics say it shut many ambitious and competent lawmakers out of government.