It was Churchill who supposedly said 'never let a good crisis go to waste' - and today's resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, after a damning report from the Standards Commissioner over her tax affairs is certainly a huge crisis.  Just two days ago Prime Minister Keir Starmer vigorously defended his deputy in the Commons and on Monday he announced a reset and the beginning of phase two of his stuttering Government.

Today he has reset again, replacing his planned junior ministerial reshuffle with a seismic Cabinet-level reshuffle in an attempt to move on from the Rayner saga - and diverting political journalists from Nigel Farage's Reform UK Party Conference. 

Starmer has moved over half his full Cabinet, including changing the Home Secretary (Yvette Cooper to Shabana Mahmood) and Foreign Secretary (David Lammy to Yvette Cooper) after just a year of power - Tony Blair and David Cameron took four years to do that. Lammy has been compensated for his demotion to Justice by becoming Deputy Prime Minister, allowing him to continue his bromance with US Vice President JD Vance. For the first time in history all the great offices of state - save for the PM himself - are held by women.

The changes deliver a Cabinet much more to Starmer's liking after what many consider a wasted first year in office, and give clues about what's next. Moving Mahmood to the Home Office suggests a redoubling of efforts to reduce immigration, moving key ally Pat McFadden to Work & Pensions suggests a second attempt at welfare reform, and replacing Jonathan Reynolds with Peter Kyle suggests a focus on improving relations with business. There were promotions to Cabinet for Emma Reynolds and Douglas Alexander, but the elevation of more 'newbies' will have to wait for the junior ministerial reshuffle next week. 

The Government remains under huge political pressure, from Reform UK in particular, and Starmer now faces an unwelcome deputy Labour leadership race too. It may be the second reset of the week but today looks much more like the real thing. 

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