The kids are alright: why the junior appointments were the most revealing part of May’s reshuffle

The ongoing Brexit process meant that the Prime Minister had good reason not to move any senior minister whose work related to it, so she had to look elsewhere to find space for fresh faces.

Conservative headquarters was an obvious place for her to start. Party membership is on the wane, and last year’s snap election showed how clunky its campaign structures are. The 60-year-old Sir Patrick McLoughlin, venerable as he may be, was not the man who would turn it into an electoral machine ready to fight Labour on the ground, airwaves and social media at the same time. Given how well Momentum has managed to popularise Jeremy Corbyn’s message online, the Tories needed a rejuvenation.

That will now be managed by the 46-year-old Brandon Lewis. Since being elected to Parliament in 2010, he has proven himself a steady hand in a variety of ministerial briefs. The man he succeeds as chairman, by contrast, has been in Parliament since 1986. He’ll be assisted by another man in his late forties as his deputy, James Cleverly—someone who is well-known as a prolific and feisty Tweeter.

In an age where mavericks like Donald Trump can ride to the White House on the strength of their Twitter panache, CCHQ will have much to learn from Mr Cleverly’s confident way of setting out Conservative arguments and taking the fight to Labour online.

Both men will be helped to revitalise the Tory machine by a raft of MPs who’ve been given particular responsibilities as vice-chairmen. Kemi Badenoch, who joined Parliament last June, is now responsible selecting Conservative candidates for the next general election.

Ben Bradley, who has been in the Commons for just as long, has to improve the party’s to appeal to young people. He would have a good handle on what interests the youth given that he is only 28 years old.

To make clear how much she valued these new brooms at Tory HQ, and perhaps to allay concerns that they would be hidden away in the back room, Mrs May posed with her new team outside Downing Street. That scene was how the Prime Minister wanted her reshuffle to be seen: as a bid to surround herself with lots of talented bright young things.

The only new faces around the cabinet table—besides Lewis—are Culture Secretary Matt Hancock, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey and Education Secretary Damian Hinds. But they aren’t too much of a surprise given that they have been working their way up the ministerial ladder for years.

The bigger changes have taken place in the lower rungs. Those shown the door included John Hayes, who was the Conservatives’ longest continuously-serving frontbencher outside Cabinet having been first appointed in 2000. He was replaced as transport minister by Nusrat Ghani, a sharp Brexiteer who entered Parliament back in 2015.

Dominic Raab, someone who could have found themselves in cabinet this week if Mrs May had managed to get rid of the reported “dead wood” like Greg Clark, now has the biggest brief a junior minister can take on: housing. He’ll be supported by brand new minister Rishi Sunak, another smart Brexiteer who became an MP in 2015. Countless ministers have struggled over recent years to boost housebuilding. If they can do any better, it’ll be a formidable advert for what the Tories’ new generation can accomplish.

Such examples do not mean that Brexit, the Government’s flagship issue, has escaped a shot of new blood from May. She has sent Suella Fernandes into the Brexit department as an extra junior minister. As a former Government lawyer, she brings legal nous and formidable Brexit credentials, given that she until recently represented Brexiteer backbenchers as head of the European Research Group. Another member of the class of 2015, she will provide her new boss—and comparatively older hand—David Davis with extra energy.

Junior ministerial movements will never get the same attention as those around the cabinet table, as evidenced by the furor after Justine Greening left. But they are noteworthy in this reshuffle as they represent the quiet rejuvenation Mrs May is fostering in her party ranks. By putting fresh figures in charge at Tory HQ, she wants to make it fit for modern campaigning. By bringing them into her Government, even if at a junior level, she hopes that the next Conservative generation has a lot to offer in office.

Now read Marie Le Conte on why the Tories need to change their approach to digital