How Cameron flunked the reshuffle

David Cameron's reshuffle hasn't gone down particularly well with either his party or the country (Reuters)

The prime minister's friends say that he has always been a reluctant reshuffler and now we know the real reason why. He isn't much good at them. In The Observer, Andrew Rawnsley lists the ten tests any reshuffle must pass - and says that David Cameron flunked every single on.

How far Mr Cameron has travelled from those balmy days when his aides would hand out tree saplings at news conferences and he would promise to lead "the greenest government ever". I am also old enough to remember when he wanted to "hug a hoodie". I can further recall his previous incarnation as the champion of "localism", which sharply contrasts with his present one as the leader of a government that says Whitehall will overrule planning decisions that it doesn't like. The most important thing we learned from the reshuffle is that the original Tory modernising project has evaporated. Gay marriage is left – and that's about it.