Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seen a number of high-profile exits from his top team (Jason Cairnduff/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Boris Johnson has made new appointments to his Downing Street team following a wave of resignations this week.
Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay will become the prime minister’s chief of staff and journalist Guto Harri will become director of communications.
It comes after five of his top aides resigned within 24 hours of each other following a week of turmoil at No 10.
Mr Johnson said the shake-up would “improve how No 10 operates”.
In a statement, he said: “This week I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.
“We need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving people’s opportunities regardless of where they’re from.
“The changes I’m announcing to my senior team today will improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country.”
More announcements are expected in the coming days with what No 10 said would be a “particular focus on improving engagement and liaison with MPs”.
Mr Barclay replaces Dan Rosenfield as the Prime Minister’s top special adviser, and will also continue his role in the Cabinet Office and as an MP.
He said it was “an honour” to have been appointed to the role.
Mr Rosenfield’s position was considered untenable when Sue Gray’s interim inquiry criticised “failures of leadership” at the heart of Government.
Mr Harri will replace Jack Doyle, who was reportedly at two of the 12 events that are under investigation by police looking at alleged lockdown breaches.
The former BBC journalist quit GB News last year following a row over him taking the knee during a debate on the racism directed towards England football players.
It has already been announced that Tory MP Andrew Griffith would replace Munira Mirza, who quit as Mr Johnson’s policy chief on Thursday.
Ms Mirza quit with a damning letter criticising Mr Johnson for his use of a “scurrilous” smear against Labour leader Sir Keir, over the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
The Prime Minister’s refusal to apologise over the conspiracy theory seemed to be the last straw for his adviser, who stuck with him since the London mayor days.
The new appointments come as a former minister became the latest MP to call on Mr Johnson to resign on Saturday, in the fallout from the ‘partygate’ scandal.
The brings the number of Tory MPs who have now publicly called for Mr Johnson to quit to 15.
Nick Gibb said the time had come for the prime minister to go, and suggested he had not been truthful in his explanations of parties reportedly held in No 10 and across Whitehall during Covid measures.
Mr Gibb, a former schools minister who has served under three prime ministers, is among nine Tory MPs who have publicly revealed that they have submitted letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson. Privately, the number is expected to be higher.
Writing in The Telegraph the MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton said that the Conservative Party must face the “hard truths” and added: “To restore trust, we need to change the Prime Minister.”
Meanwhile the Mirror reported that the Metropolitan Police had been handed a photograph of Mr Johnson holding a beer at an alleged gathering in June 2020 to mark the his birthday.
The newspaper said it was one of the 300 photos handed to the Met in their investigation into 12 alleged gatherings that may have broken Covid restrictions.
No 10 said it could not comment while the Met Police’s investigation was ongoing.
On Friday, the beleaguered Prime Minister sought to rally Downing Street staff with a line from The Lion King, telling them “Change is good” after the departure of a number of aides.
He was hit with a fifth resignation in less than 24 hours when Elena Narozanski, a special adviser in the No 10 policy unit, walked out on Friday.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid made clear he disagreed with Mr Johnson’s attack on Sir Keir Starmer when he accused the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions.
Backbencher Aaron Bell also declared publicly he had submitted a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in his leader.
But on Saturday Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries defended the prime minister, suggesting those who were against him were Remainers. She insisted to Sky News that 97% of Tory MPs support him.
She told Times Radio: "There are a small number of voices, whether they are people who were ardent supporters of Remain, who see this as their last opportunity to reverse Brexit."
Asked whether the moves against Boris Johnson were a "Remainer plot", Ms Dorries said: "There are a number of reasons actually, it's not just one, but that certainly is at play with a group."
She said it was "important that people don't get hung up" on a "small number" of MPs.
Ms Dorries suggested those in marginal seats were "working damn hard and they want Boris Johnson in place".
Mr Bell said on Friday in a statement on calling for the Prime Minister to go, he said: “The breach of trust that events in No 10 Downing Street represent, and the manner in which they have been handled, makes his position untenable.”
In an emotional question in the Commons on Monday following the publication of the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties, Mr Bell asked Mr Johnson if he thought he was a “fool” for following Covid restrictions at his grandmother’s funeral.
In his intervention, Mr Gibb said Mr Bell had been “brave” and “struck a chord”.
He wrote: “He expressed the anger and frustration of millions at rule-breaking by those most responsible for making the rules.
“He was not a fool for sticking by those rules. But, whether inadvertently or not, behaviour by people at the heart of government suggests that they think he was - or worse still, that the rules don’t apply to them.”
He said his constituents were “furious about the double standards”.
Mr Gibb said: “The Prime Minister accepted the resignation of Allegra Stratton for joking about a Christmas party that she hadn’t attended, but he won’t take responsibility for those that he did attend.
“I am sorry to say that it is hard to see how it can be the case that the Prime Minister told the truth.”
Other Tory MPs are expected to consider over the weekend whether to write to the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham in an attempt to force a leadership contest.
In an apparent move to head off further dissent, Mr Johnson has written to Tory MPs promising them a greater role in policymaking with a “direct line” into No 10.
