Steerpike

Now that Boris Johnson’s new ministers are in place and the key players in his administration firmly established, the curtain has been decisively drawn over the May era. But who has lost the most and been cast aside in the transition to Boris’s new ‘golden age’? Mr S. presents his pick… Alan Duncan Alan Duncan, who was dubbed Boris’s ‘pooper-scooper’ when they worked together in the Foreign Office, jumped before he was pushed when he resigned as a minister last week. Duncan said he had quit to try and table a motion on the new PM’s ability to command a majority – which he failed in doing.

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s frontbench debut made it clear he won’t be a typical member of the Cabinet. Fresh from making waves in Parliament, the new leader of the house of Commons has now released his own style guide for staff. On the banned list are full stops after Miss. or Ms., commas after and, and double spaces after full stops.  Rees-Mogg also tells staff to refer to non-titled men as ‘esquire’ – and ensure that they only use imperial measurements, something which Mr S. is sure will go down well in Brussels. And as for using the words ‘very’, ‘lot’, ‘got’ or ‘speculate’? Don’t even think about if you’re a member of Rees-Mogg’s staff.

Theresa May's clashes with Jeremy Corbyn were usually dull affairs. Now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, Mr S. is looking forward to some livelier bust-ups in Parliament. Boris didn't disappoint in his first encounter with the Labour leader. Here are five of the best bits from Boris's government debut: Corbyn's 'terrible' Brexit 'metamorphosis': Boris wasted little time in going for Corbyn over his mixed-up Brexit position, accusing him of undergoing a “terrible metamorphosis” from “long-standing Eurosceptic” into reluctant Remainer. Boris said the change of heart matched Corbyn’s “turgivisating career”: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1154349931936641024?

Boris Johnson has only been in Downing Street for a few hours but already Dominic Grieve is trying to stir up trouble. Asked to sum up the new Prime Minister, Grieve responded: 'He's a charlatan. I mean that is the clear evidence of his career and the way he has operated politically. And that is one of the things that has offered me so much disquiet ' Grieve also mocked Boris's first speech as Prime Minister, saying that now Boris is leader he can take Britain to the 'sunny uplands'. Grieve said: 'Well, I don't share his optimism about his opinion of himself' Mr S. is sure that Grieve's verdict on Boris will go down well with the two thirds of Tory voters who backed him...

Jared O'Mara, the former Labour MP (who was briefly suspended from the party in 2018 over a series of online comments) has been something of an enigma in Westminster of late. Although he promised to fight for his constituents when he left the Labour party to become an independent, the politician has since missed a huge number of key votes in the Commons, leaving the residents of Sheffield Hallam furious, and with no effective representation in parliament. Now it appears though that O'Mara's staff have had enough of the MP as well.

Alan Duncan may have been the first to resign ahead of Boris Johnson's expected coronation as prime minister but he won't be the last. Philip Hammond has already announced he'll jump before he is pushed. And the rest of the so-called Gaukeward Squad are preparing to make their feelings about Boris known. But what about the MPs and politicians doing the opposite ahead of Boris's anticipated win? For years Boris is the man certain Tories have loved to hate – and they haven't been shy about admitting it. Yet now some of the loudest of Boris's critics have changed their tune. Mr S profiles the members of the reverse Gaukeward squad: Amber Rudd: Amber Rudd was once at the vanguard of the Remain-leaning Cabinet contingent.

As parliament voted today on an amendment which would make suspending parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit more difficult, one MP was conspicuously absent from the events. After the vote it was noted that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has ruled out proroguing parliament if he becomes the next leader of the Tory party, was listed as having abstained on the key amendment. It's unusual enough for such a vital figure to miss an important vote, but most assumed the head of the Foreign Office had at least 'paired' himself with a Labour MP, so the result wasn't affected. Apparently not though. Hunt explained on Twitter this afternoon that although he thought he had been paired with an opposition MP (so he could be absent), he'd in fact made a mistake. https://twitter.

Did you know that Jeremy Hunt is an entrepreneur? If you've heard any of the Tory leadership contender's speeches or been at a hustings event, you are bound to, given how often Hunt has mentioned his business background. But while Mr S. doesn't doubt Hunt's money-making credentials, he does wonder whether he could do with brushing up on his spelling. Over on Hunt's official Facebook page, a meme has appeared boasting that Hunt is 'an entreprenur to turbocharge our economy'. Oh dear...