LONDON ¨C Sajid Javid¡¯s resignation as Britain¡¯s chancellor of the exchequer doesn¡¯t so much signal a major shift in Britain¡¯s economic policy as confirm a sea change in the rules of British politics under Prime Minister Boris Johnson¡¯s administration. That could be just as consequential.
With the country¡¯s first post-Brexit budget due in less than a month and major trade decisions underway, this would seem an odd time to put the country¡¯s budget in a new pair of hands. It certainly wasn¡¯t expected. While there was talk of a ¡°Valentine¡¯s Day massacre¡± for some weeks after the election, the chancellor¡¯s job wasn¡¯t one of those slated to change in this reshuffle; indeed he was the only Cabinet minister whom Johnson had publicly promised would keep his job.
The prime minister just didn¡¯t promise to make staying tenable. Javid lost a long-running battle to keep control over his team of special advisers (known as ¡°spads¡± in Britain). These officials are very important ¡ª and usually loyal ¡ª to Cabinet ministers, but the prime minister¡¯s office now wants to centralize their appointments. Javid¡¯s advisers became pawns in a bigger contest for control, a word this government rather likes.
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