Johnson’s Treasury power grab gives him the whip hand – but only in the short term

Power struggles between the Treasury and Downing Street are nothing new. In the 1960s, Harold Wilson set up a Department of Economic Affairs as a rival powerbase, but it was outgunned as the Treasury fought back. It always does, writes Andrew Grice

The PM will discover he cannot run an entire government from Downing Street (AP)

It was hardly an advert for strong cabinet government. When his new ministerial team met for the first time on Friday, Boris Johnson got them to recite his key election pledges in front of the TV cameras that were briefly allowed into the cabinet room.

The muppets – sorry, I mean the ministers – played along nervously. In the short term, Johnson has got the cabinet of loyalists he wanted. They know he will not tolerate any dissent. Although his allies say the most important ministerial qualities will be competence and delivery, we now know that discipline is a higher priority.

One senior Tory told me: “When he became PM, it was about loyalty on Brexit. Now it’s all about loyalty to him.” This rings true, since Brexiteers Andrea Leadsom, Theresa Villiers, Esther McVey and Geoffrey Cox were among the casualties in Thursday’s reshuffle.