UK cabinet reshuffle promotes high profile Eurosceptics

United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron carried out a substantial ministerial reshuffle on 14-15 July 2014. William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary (Foreign Minister) announced he would be stepping down from his post with immediate effect.

While there were a number of motivations for the reshuffle, commentators noted that the new Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond was seen as a Eurosceptic, who had previously said that he would rather leave the European Union if the UK could not negotiate better membership terms.

One of the few remaining pro-EU members of the cabinet, Kenneth Clark, lost his ministerial post in the reshuffle.

It was also announced that Lord Hill, the leader of the House of Lords, was to be the UK's European Commissioner for the period 2014-2019.

The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale said Lord Hill was a 'hugely able technocrat' who was extremely loyal to David Cameron but was likely to be regarded as 'not eurosceptic enough' by many Members of Parliament.

Euronews, 15.07.14: Hague quits as UK’s foreign minister while Cameron conducts major jobs reshuffle http://www.euronews.com/2014/07/15/hague-quits-as-uk-s-foreign-minister-while-cameron-conducts-major-jobs-reshuffle/

BBC News, 15.07.14: William Hague quits as foreign secretary in cabinet reshuffle http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28291281

The New York Times, 14.07.14: British Foreign Secretary Quits for Lower Position in the Cabinet http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/europe/william-hague-resigns-as-britains-foreign-secretary.html

Deutsche Welle, 14.07.14: British Foreign Minister William Hague steps down http://dw.de/p/1Ccuc

France24, 15.07.14: Hague steps down as foreign minister in cabinet overhaul http://www.france24.com/en/20140715-hague-resigns-uk-foreign-minister-cabinet-reshuffle/

BBC News, 15.07.14: Lord Hill set to become UK's new EU Commissioner http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28310707

EUObserver, 15.07.14: UK nominates obscure Lord for EU commission http://euobserver.com/news/124984

Euronews, 15.07.14: UK government gets eurosceptic makeover http://www.euronews.com/2014/07/15/uk-government-gets-eurosceptic-makeover/

The Guardian, 15.07.14: Cameron reshuffle tells Europe that Britain is 'ready to leave' http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/15/cabinet-reshuffle-lord-hill-says-britain-ready-to-leave-eu

The Guardian, 15.07.14: Cabinet reshuffle: breakdown by gender, education and age http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/jul/15/cabinet-reshuffle-broken-down-gender-education-age

The Guardian, 15.07.14: David Cameron's reshuffle gets rid of the 'green crap' http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2014/jul/15/cameron-reshuffle-owen-paterson-liz-truss

BBC News, 16.07.14: Cabinet 'certainly Eurosceptic', says Michael Fallon http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28324237

Open Europe, 15.07.14: Open Europe Flash Analysis: Juncker approved, Hague out, Lord Hill to Brussels: what does it mean? http://www.openeurope.org.uk/Article?id=20374

EurActiv, 17.07.14: Juncker 'owes nothing' to Cameron over top EU jobs http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu-elections-2014/juncker-owes-cameron-nothing-over-top-jobs-303542

Wikipedia: Jonathan Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Hill,_Baron_Hill_of_Oareford

ESO: Background information: Schulz walks careful line on politics of EP commissioner hearings http://www.europeansources.info/record/schulz-walks-careful-line-on-politics-of-ep-commissioner-hearings/

EUObserver, 17.07.14: Pro-transparency groups irked by UK commissioner's lobbyist ties http://euobserver.com/institutional/125030

Blog: LSE British Politics and Policy, 23.07.14: How to be a good European Commissioner and still serve the British interest http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/european-commissioner-british-interest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BritishPoliticsAndPolicyAtLse+%28British+politics+and+policy+at+LSE%29

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