Has Boris Johnson abandoned his promise to make his cabinet less pale and male?

Incoming prime minister pledged a top team to ‘truly reflect modern Britain’ – but is now shedding women and ethnic minority ministers, says Rob Merrick

No 10 could not have been clearer when it vowed, last summer: “Boris will build a cabinet showcasing all the talents within the party that truly reflect modern Britain.”

With Sajid Javid installed as the UK’s first chancellor from an Asian background, it pointed to a determined effort to rid the Tories of the stigma of being male, pale and obscenely privileged.

Now, just months after that promise was made, Mr Javid’s career is in tatters and so, it seems, is the drive for diversity. So will the Conservative Party ever really change?

The statistics are gloomy and getting more so. Although Rishi Sunak replaced Mr Javid, the demotion of James Cleverly from party chairman means the cabinet is one down for non-white members.

Worse, the prime minister has achieved the singular feat of going backwards for women around the top table, from a dismal seven to a disgraceful six out of 22.

The arrivals of Anne-Marie Trevelyan (international development) and Amanda Milling (party chair) failed to compensate for the demise of Andrea Leadsom (business), Theresa Villiers (environment) and Nicky Morgan (culture).

And two-thirds of the cabinet is now privately-educated – up from 59 per cent when Mr Johnson became prime minister – when just 7 per cent of the country is.

As Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrat equalities spokeswoman put it: “It’s almost unbelievable that Boris Johnson has managed to find a way to make his cabinet even more male-dominated.

“It shows just how little Johnson cares about gender equality and fails to ease concerns that women will continue to be marginalised by the Tories.”

Whether our fib-prone prime minister ever intended to create a diverse cabinet is impossible to say, but what is certain is that it is far down his priority list.

The lesson of the reshuffle – not just Mr Javid’s walkout but the sackings of Julian Smith, Geoffrey Cox and Ms Leadsom – was that anyone who has crossed Mr Johnson took a bullet.

Of course, behind the scenes, Dominic Cummings appears to be pulling the strings, demanding blind loyalty from all ministers to the extent of picking their advisers.

Strikingly, all five of the top cabinet jobs are now held by people who voted Leave in the EU referendum – suggesting the need for true believers for the coming Brexit battles looms large in No 10’s planning.

Set against those requirements for slavish obedience and ideological purity, any aspiration to lead a diverse government to “reflect modern Britain” will remain just that.