Guido understands Liz Truss may be about to walk into a trap set for her by the blob. This morning former No. 10 stalwart Nikki Da Costa revealed Truss is finally set to move a swathe of No. 10 SpAds out of Downing Street and into the Cabinet Office, where the policy unit, data unit, legislative affairs unit and delivery units will become part of the powerful Economic & Domestic Secretariat. This alone would be a worrying move by the new PM; while it’s popular to slate the proliferation of SpAds, they form a vital role in government by preventing Civil Servants from becoming all-powerful ‘Sir Humphrys’. Moving up to 30 political advisors out of the building, as well as making it easier for civil servants to exercise more control over them, and in doing so will give the blob yet more ability to control and thwart the will of the Prime Minister…

The Whitehall machine isn’t content with a potential major power grab. Word has reached Guido that Nicholas Joicey is to be appointed as the new head of policy at the EDS. Joicey would be an interesting choice, having previously served as a speech writer and private secretary to then-Chancellor Gordon Brown.

There’s another factor in the appointment that might give Liz pause for thought before giving him a major role in charge of SpAds. Nick Joicey is the husband of none other than the Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.