Reshuffle shambles: Toby Young quits, minister who sent woman aide to buy sex toy is shafted, and MPs round on 'pathetically weak' Theresa May

New team: Theresa May holds her first Cabinet meeting since the reshuffle, with fresh appointees at the table including party chairman Brandon Lewis, bottom left, and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey
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Theresa May suffered fresh humiliation this morning with the resignation of Toby Young as a universities watchdog two days after she publicly defended him.

The departure of the journalist came midway through a Government reshuffle that lurched into what one former minister called a “complete bloody shambles” and exposed Mrs May’s weakened authority over her ministers.

Conservative MPs were criticising No 10 this morning, with former leader Iain Duncan Smith pointing the finger at the Prime Minister’s office for allowing media expectations of the reshuffle to grow too big.

There were also rumblings against Mrs May’s leadership after Cabinet ministers defied her.

Justine Greening, who quit rather than be moved from her post as Education Secretary, went jogging from her home in Putney today, telling reporters: “I did what I thought was the right thing to do.” Her confident public appearance was seen as a signal that she would not be quiet on the backbenches.

Mrs May chaired the new Cabinet this morning and hoped to get her narrative back on course with a more widespread reshuffle of the middle and junior ranks to bring in new talent and diversity.

But Mr Young’s resignation from the board of the Office for Students raised more question marks over No 10’s judgment in allowing Mrs May to defend him in a Sunday TV interview.

Mr Young, 54, a supporter of free schools, came under fire for past articles and tweets, including leering comments about women. He also admitted watching “thousands” of pornographic films, calling himself an “addict”, and supported “progressive eugenics” for the poor.

Today he wrote in The Spectator: “The caricature drawn of me in the last seven days, particularly on social media, has been unrecognisable to anyone who knows me.

“I am a passionate supporter of inclusion and helping the most disadvantaged, as I hope my track record of setting up and supporting new schools demonstrates. But some of the things I said before I got involved in education, when I was a journalistic provocateur, were either ill-judged or just plain wrong — and I unreservedly apologise.”

'Porn addict' Toby Young quit from his new post at a universities watchdog
Rex

The chairman of the education committee, Robert Halfon, who has cerebral palsy, welcomed Mr Young’s departure. He referred to one of his articles from 2015 about “progressive eugenics” as “incredibly dark and very dangerous”.

Labour’s women and equalities spokeswoman, Dawn Butler, said the “saga had further exposed Theresa May’s total lack of judgment”, adding: “She should have removed him from his post, not personally backed him at the weekend and sent a minister out to defend him in Parliament yesterday.”

Sir Michael Barber, chair of the board of the Office for Students, said Mr Young “has reached the right conclusion”.

The first sackings today included Mark Garnier who was embroiled in a scandal over the revelation that he once allowed an assistant to buy sex toys on his behalf

The Department for Education said: “We can confirm that Toby Young has decided to resign from the board of the Office for Students. Everyone appointed to the board brings valuable experience which will be vital to the role of the new higher education regulator.”

Mr Garnier denied wrongdoing and had on to his job following a Cabinet Office inquiry which found that he had not breached the ministerial code.

The incident, in Soho, happened before he was a minister and the code generally applies to MPs time in government.

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