Boris Johnson has hired a Brexiteer minister as his chief of staff in a bid to save his career by ‘returning to Tory values’.

The embattled prime minister has chosen Steve Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to be his most senior aide.

He has also hired Guto Harri, a trusted former City Hall aide and ex BBC journalist, as communications chief. 

Mr Harri, a remainer, quit GB News last summer after he was suspended for taking the knee during a discussion about racism towards England’s black footballers.

The PM said the shakeup of No 10 would ‘strengthen the role of my
Cabinet and backbench colleagues and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country’.

Mr Johnson added: ‘This week I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.

‘We need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving people’s opportunities regardless of where they’re from.’

Mr Barclay’s role is intended to reassure Tory backbenchers that the government will break away from the interventionist era of the pandemic and return to the small state conservatism championed by Mr Johnson before he entered Downing Street, reports The Telegraph.

The former Treasury minister is an ally of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his appointment is also likely to help thaw relations between No 10 and No 11.

It comes after five members of Boris Johnson’s top team resigned within 24 hours on Friday in the wake of the Downing Street party scandal.

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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