Where are all the women? PM's big reshuffle falls flat as she FAILS to move Cabinet big beasts or draft in new female ministers to her top team
Theresa May's big reshuffle was at risk of falling flat tonight after she failed to move Cabinet big beasts or draft in more women.
Despite expectations she would carry out a major overhaul to assert her authority, the Prime Minister made a series of limited changes.
Tory party chairman Patrick McLoughlin was replaced with combative immigration minister Brandon Lewis in the wake of the election fiasco.
Justice Secretary David Lidington has been shifted to fill the gap left by the axing of deputy PM Damian Green over computer porn allegations, becoming Cabinet Office minister.
However, although he will deputise for Mrs May at PMQs he has not been granted the same status as First Secretary of State.
The reshuffle got off to a difficult start when James Brokenshire resigned as Northern Ireland Secretary.And it threatened to descend into chaos after Tory HQ tweeted that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was the new party chairman - only to delete the post.
Just over an hour later Mr Lewis was confirmed in the job instead, with James Cleverly as his vice-chair.
Embarrassingly the image congratulating Mr Grayling had already been shared by MPs including Rebecca Pow and Sheryll Murray.
Earlier the official Tory website crashed after someone apparently forgot to renew a security certificate.
Mr Brokenshire decided to quit on health grounds after discovering a lesion on his lung which will need surgery in the coming weeks.
The departure of her close ally will be a blow to Mrs May as she attempts to reassert her authority on the government.
Mr Brokenshire was replaced tonight by Karen Bradley, who has been promoted from Culture Secretary.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis have been confirmed as staying in their posts, as the PM stopped short of tackling any 'Big Beasts' in the Cabinet.
And with just a few appointments to go, most of the changes so far have fallen well short of expectations for a radical relaunch.
Despite widespread speculation, Jeremy Hunt stays on as health secretary - although he does add social care to his remit.
Sajid Javid also gets an expanded job, with housing specifically included in his title at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Greg Clark is staying in place at the Department for Business, and David Gauke has merely been shunted sideways from Work and Pensions to Justice.
Gavin Williamson is keeping the Defence Secretary job he was handed last year.
Sir Patrick McLoughlin (left) has been axed as Conservative Party chairman and replaced with Brandon Lewis (right)
David Gauke emerged from No 10 tonight (pictured left) as the new Justice Secretary tonight while Karen Bradley (right arriving at Downing Street) is made Northern Ireland Secretary
Mrs May could send a stark message to Brussels by installing a dedicated 'Cabinet minister for no deal' to prepare for a collapse inBrexit talks.
Mrs May has previously been too weak to carry out a full shake-up, but sealing the Brexit divorce deal has allowed her to claw her way back into the driving seat.
A Tory source said that CCHQ political director Iain Carter sent the image appearing to confirm Mr Grayling's appointment as chairman to a WhatsApp group for MPs, before realising his error.
By the end of the night, five or six changes are expected to be made at Cabinet level, although the top names such as Boris Johnson are considered untouchable.
Education Secretary Justine Greening is said to face a demotion or being sacked amid claims the PM finds her 'patronising'.
Ms Greening ignored questions about whether she expected to be fired as she left her London home this morning.
From left: James Morris, Helen Grant, Marcus Jones, Rehman Chishti, Party Chairman Brandon Lewis, Prime Minister Theresa May, Deputy Chairman James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Chris Skidmore, Maria Caulfield and Ben Bradley
The reshuffle was also threatening to descend into confusion as Tory HQ tweeted that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was the new party chairman - only to delete the post
Conservative central office tweeted congratulations to Mr Grayling, before the message was swiftly demoted
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire (left) decided to quit on health grounds as the PM kicked off the reshuffle. Justice Secretary David Lidington (right) has replaced Damian Green as Cabinet Office minister and will be Mrs May's effective new deputy - but will not get the same status as First Secretary of State.
Brexit minister Steve Baker is already deputy to David Davis in the Department for Exiting the European Union, and has responsibility for 'contingency planning'.
His role could be beefed up and given the right to attend Cabinet, although he would not be a full member.
The minister's duties would include providing the Prime Minister with updates on preparations if the UK is to leave the EU without negotiating a trade deal.
The move would show EU counterparts in Brussels that Mrs May still plans on leaving the EU even if a deal is not reached.
A government source said Mrs May will promote more women from 'non-white backgrounds' and it has been confirmed she will replace Mr Green after his forced resignation.
Mr Hunt had been tipped to become her effective deputy, with his current role likely to be given to former NHS nurse Ms Milton, MP for Guildford - who is nicknamed 'Scary Spice' for her combative Commons performances.
However, Mr Lidington has now taken the Cabinet Office job.
The appointment raises questions about what Mrs May will do with Mr Hunt, and whether he is resisting being moved.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson are staying in their jobs amid the overhaul by Mrs May
A source said that Mrs May will make changes to the Cabinet because she is worried voters see 'stale, male and pale Ministers on the wrong side of 50' in government.
Mr Lewis will be a popular choice as party chairman, with one of his main tasks to sharpen up social media campaigning.
In an illustration of the problems, Mr Grayling's appointment was accidentally announced by CCHQ, before being deleted.
An hour later Mr Lewis was confirmed in the post on the No10 Twitter feed. But even that had to be deleted and replaced because the 't' had been missed out of 'portfolio'.
New deputy chairman James Cleverly admitted someone at CCHQ had been a 'little over excited' in naming Mr Grayling chairman. Mr Cleverly said he was 'excited' to get on with the job of shaking up Tory headquarters.
He told Sky News: 'This is a fantastic opportunity to tell the whole country about the stuff we have been doing in Government.
'The job here is brilliant.'
Mr Cleverly said the Government was getting on with 'delivering for the country' and said he was confident getting out the message would show in positive election results for the party.
As part of the ritual exchange of letters with Sir Patrick, Mrs May said it was important to make changes to put the party on a 'strong footing to fight and win the next general election'.
And in his resignation letter, Sir Patrick said there was 'so much talent' among junior ministers and backbenchers.
'I know you need to bring them on to secure the future of our party and the country as a whole,' he said.
Among the new appointments, media-friendly mixed race backbencher James Cleverly takes over as deputy chairman.
Kemi Badenoch, the black MP who entered Parliament in June and introduced Mrs May's ill-fated party conference speech in October, becomes vice chairman for candidates.
Tthere is another place for a 2017 intake MP as Ben Bradley, who is in his late twenties, becomes vice chair for youth.
There was a backlash from Labour and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity over the appointment of Maria Caulfield as vice chair for women, as the Christian nurse led parliamentary opposition to proposals to liberalise abortion laws in March.
Elsewhere, Pakistan-born Rehman Chishti and mixed-race former sport minister Helen Grant become vice chairs for communities.
Chris Skidmore, Andrew Jones and Marcus Jones gave up junior ministerial positions to take up roles as vice chairs for policy, business and local government respectively.
James Morris becomes vice chair for training and development.
eremy Hunt (pictured leaving his London home today) was tipped to take over as Mrs May's deputy after the departure of Damian Green last month, but is staying as Health Secretary
Justine Greening faces being demoted or sacked from Education Secretary amid claims Mrs May finds her 'patronising'
Mrs May will turn her attention to shaking up the lower ministerial roster tomorrow.
But she has already made space by demoting three ministers to unpaid jobs at CCHQ - Chris Skidmore, Andrew Jones and Marcus Jones.
MPs first elected in 2015, such as Suella Fernandes, Nusrat Ghani and Rishi Sunak could be given ministerial jobs for the first time.
The changes will be seen as 'succession planning' to bring through a new generation of politicians.
Former Tory leader Lord Howard said Mrs May must make clear that 'no deal is better than a bad deal' in Brexit negotiations.
Commenting on the prospect of a 'no deal' minister, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I certainly think you've always got to make it clear in any negotiation that no deal is better than a bad deal, because if you go into any negotiation saying 'I've got to have a deal at any price', you're going to be taken to the cleaners, which is what I feel would happen if Mr Corbyn was in charge of these negotiations.'
He also encouraged the PM to promote talented MPs who entered Parliament at the 2015 and 2017 general elections.
'The challenge facing the Prime Minister today, what she will want to do is to give fresh impetus to the Government and there is an array of talent on the back benches, and in junior ministerial positions,' the peer said.
'There really is, particularly but not exclusively those who have entered Parliament relatively recently and I hope and I believe that the Prime Minister will seize this opportunity to give some of those people a chance to show what they can do.'
Boris Johnson (left out for a job this morning) and Brexit Secretary David Davis (right) are being kept in post as the PM stops short of a radical overhaul
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