New culture secretary is first MP from 2010 Tory intake to reach cabinet level

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/09/sajid-david-replaces-miller-culture-secretary

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Sajid Javid, the Muslim son of a bus driver, was marked out as one of the most significant Tories of the 2010 intake on Wednesday when he became the first of that generation of MPs to be appointed to the cabinet.

In a sign of David Cameron's determination to alter the image of the Tory party, which is depicted as white and upper class, the prime minister summoned Javid from the third most senior position in the Treasury to be the new culture secretary.

Javid, 44, was also appointed equalities minister as he became the first member of Britain's black and minority ethnic communities to hold this portfolio in cabinet.

Nicky Morgan, who moves up one slot in the Treasury to replace Javid as financial secretary, will take the role as women's minister with a non-voting seat in the cabinet. She will report directly to Cameron on women's issues as Downing Street moved to make clear that she was not subordinate to Javid on equalities.

Javid had widely been seen as the next candidate to join the cabinet after impressing George Osborne and the prime minister with his confident performance at the Treasury.

Osborne appointed the former Deutsche Bank director as his parliamentary private secretary in 2011. Within a year Javid became economic secretary to the Treasury as Osborne sought to improve his operation after the "omnishambles" budget of March 2012. Javid's promotion on Wednesday is another sign of the chancellor's decisive influence in government.

Javid caused some surprise at Westminster when he let it be know that, even as the most junior member of the Osborne team as his PPS, he clocked most of the pitfalls in the 2012 "omnishambles" budget which became embroiled in a row over the pasty tax and the caravan tax. These concerns were overlooked as Osborne pressed ahead with what many Tories regard as one of his greatest mistakes – cutting the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p when the economy had yet to recover.

The prime minister will be hoping that Javid will take command of the culture department, in contrast to Maria Miller who was seen as hesitant and a weak communicator. She was, however, greatly admired for her bravery in piloting the legislation on gay marriage.

Downing Street hopes that the appointment will send an important signal about the diversity of the Conservative party. The prime minister brushes off criticisms of the dominance of Etonians in his inner circle. But senior figures know that the relentless focus on the upper middle-class background of the Tory elite is damaging.

Some Tory critics of Osborne, who raised eyebrows at the rapid promotion of Javid, believe he will be an accomplished communicator. But one wondered whether he would connect with the arts world.

The promotion of Javid means that the so called Exeter Group could be on course in the future to replace the Etonian Group. Javid attended Exeter university with two highly influential Tories who became lifelong friends – the founder of the ConservativeHome website, Tim Montgomerie, and the campaigning Tory MP Robert Halfon.

The reshuffle means there are three women in full cabinet posts: Theresa May, the home secretary, Justine Greening, the development secretary, and Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary. The decision to replace Miller with a man meant that the number of women with full voting rights in cabinet has fallen to 13.6%, the lowest level in 15 years, the group Counting Women in Coalition said.

Downing Street moved rapidly to show it regards women's issues as important by making clear that Morgan would report directly to the prime minister. No 10 initially indicated that she would report to Javid in his role as equalities minister.

Andrea Leadsom, 50, the former BZW director, replaced Morgan as economic secretary to the Treasury. Leadsom is another respected member of the 2010 intake. But she fell foul of Osborne in 2012 when she said he should apologise to Ed Balls for attempting to link him to the Libor-fixing scandal.