BORIS Johnson will today promote a string of women in his first Cabinet reshuffle since the election.
Armed Forces minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will get promoted, as the Prime Minister unveils a new look cabinet.
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She is part of a major shake-up of the government’s middle and lower orders in a boost to the number of women in power.
The shake-up will create a 50/50 gender split among Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State — the most junior rank of ministers.
Rising stars Suella Braverman and Gillian Keegan will also be handed mid-ranking roles.
And parliamentary aides, the lowest, will eventually be 60 per cent female by the summer.
Elsewhere, there will be promotions for diligent worker bees Alok Sharma, currently International Development Secretary, and Oliver Dowden, who will also enter the Cabinet for the first time.
COX OUT?
Mr Johnson also faces the tough task of having to fire loyal supporter Geoffrey Cox against his will.
Contrary to reports he was ready to return to the bar where he earned a fortune as a QC, it has emerged that Mr Cox wants to stay on as Attorney General.
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When asked by the PM’s aides, Mr Cox told them he wants to see through the tricky EU trade deal negotiation this year.
Friends of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace say he has been assured his job is safe, despite an acidic briefing against him from some in No10.
And the shuffle may mark a defeat for the PM’s senior aide Dominic Cummings, whose push for ministry mergers and the sackings of Mr Wallace and Chancellor Sajid Javid seems to have been rebuffed.
Instead of the major government overhaul that he was in favour of, only the Department for International Development is expected to become part of the Foreign Office.
One minister said: “He is going to become a lot less powerful when we all see how the poison he poured into the PM’s ear didn’t work.”
