A Whitehall source whispers to Guido this afternoon that civil servants at the Home Office have been asked to prepare a new minister briefing for today.

Other senior Home Office sources are in the dark about any potential moves.

Are we not overdue a Liberal Democrat reshuffle?

David Cameron – GAVIN WILLIAMSON
William Hague – MARGOT JAMES
George Osborne – ROBERT HALFON
David Gauke – GARETH JOHNSON
Theresa May – GEORGE HOLLINGBERY
James Brokenshire – GUY OPPERMAN
Mike Penning – STEVE BRINE
Philip Hammond – DAMIAN COLLINS
Baroness Warsi – ERIC OLLERENSHAW
David Lidington – DAVID RUTLEY
Hugo Swire – ALEC SHELBROOKE
Lord Livingston – STEPHEN McPARTLAND
Chris Grayling – STEPHEN METCALFE
Michael Fallon – GRAHAM EVANS
Mark Francois – ANDREW BINGHAM
Anna Soubry – MARK PAWSEY
Greg Clark – DAVID MOWAT
Matthew Hancock – NICOLA BLACKWOOD
Nick Boles – MIKE FREER
Ed Vaizey – JUSTIN TOMLINSON
Iain Duncan Smith – CHARLIE ELPHICKE
Esther McVey – JAMES MORRIS
Mark Harper – CAROLINE NOKES
Baroness Stowell – MARK SPENCER
Jeremy Hunt – ANDREW JONES & SIMON KIRBY
Eric Pickles – JOHN GLEN
Brandon Lewis – JULIAN STURDY
Nicky Morgan – CAROLINE DINENAGE & BEN GUMMER
Nick Gibb – REHMAN CHISHTI
Justine Greening – JULIAN SMITH
Desmond Swayne – JACK LOPRESTI
Patrick McLoughlin – IAIN STEWART
John Hayes – NEIL PARISH
Theresa Villiers – MARY MACLEOD
Stephen Crabb – DAVID MORRIS
Sajid Javid – MARCUS JONES
Liz Truss – ROBIN WALKER
Francis Maude – STUART ANDREW
Oliver Letwin – PAUL MAYNARD
Jeremy Wright – HEATHER WHEELER
Grant Shapps – JAKE BERRY

The finishing touches to the reshuffle are being announced by No.10 this afternoon:

Anne Milton has been promoted to Government Whip.

Andrew Selous has been appointed PUSS at the MoJ.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon is PUSS at DCLG.

Lord Ashton of Hyde has been made a whip in the Lords.

Developing…

7:40pm: Andrew Lansley is stepping down as an MP at the election.

5:40pm: Tobias Ellwood appointed FCO PUSS.

5:00pm: Jo Johnson promoted to Minister of State at Cabinet Office.

4:58pm: Sam Gymiah is PUSS at DfE.

4:02pm: Whips: Mel Stride, Therese Coffey, Ben Wallace & Damian Hinds.

3:59pm: Alun Cairns is PUSS at Wales Office.

2:05pm: Brooks Newmark is Parliamentary Secretary at Cabinet Office.

2:00pm: Ed Vaizey Minister of State at DCMS and BIS.

1:59pm: Brandon Lewis made Minister of State at DCLG.

1:47pm: Andrew Murrison is PUSS at Northern Ireland.

1:46pm: George Freeman becomes Minister for Life Sciences.

1:40pm: Julian Brazier becomes PUSS at MoD.

1:36pm: Desmond Swayne is Minister of State at DFID.

1:33pm: Robert Buckland becomes Solicitor General.

1:22pm: Liam Fox turns down a job at FCO.

1:14pm: Nick Gibb is returning to Government as Minister of State at DfE.

12:30pm: Penny Mordaunt is the new PUSS at DCLG.

12:29pm: Amber Rudd is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DECC.

12:25pm: Priti Patel becomes Exchequer Secretary at the Treasury.

12:25pm: Claire Perry becomes a Transport minister.

12:18pm: Oliver Lewtin becomes Lord Privy Seal.

12:12pm: Anna Soubry is Minister of State at Defence.

12:10pm: John Hayes appointed Minister of State at Transport.

12:07pm: David Gauke is Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

11:35am: Mark Harper appointed Minister of State at DWP.

11:32am: Nick Boles is Minister of State at Education and BIS.

11:30am: Mike Penning is Minister of State at Home Office and MoJ.

11:14am: Matt Hancock is Minister of State for BIS, DECC and Portsmouth. He will attend Cabinet.

11:11am: Jeremy Wright is the new Attorney General.

11.00am: Baroness Stowell replaces Jonathan Hill as Lords Leader.

10:43am: Lord Hill is the PM’s nomination for European Commissioner.

10.34am: Greg Clark becomes Minister for Universities, Cities and Science.

10:27am: Esther McVey continues at DWP and will now attend Cabinet.

9:55am: Michael Fallon is the new Defence Secretary.

9:30am: New Environment Secretary is Liz Truss.

9:25am: Nicky Morgan replaces Gove as Education Secretary.

9.12am: Michael Gove is moved to Chief Whip.

Developing…

As ever, one big reshuffle headache is what to do about Warsi. The ‘Senior’ Minister of State at Communities and the Foreign Office is unlikely to go quietly, though that has not stopped others in government attempting to brief her out of the door. In fact, they appear to have formed an orderly queue over at Coffee House:

“Baroness Warsi is alleged by multiple sources in and out of government to have consistently resisted calls to develop a proper strategy on integration and tackling extremism at its roots, even though this is the Prime Minister’s policy…

One source says: ‘Sayeeda made clear when she got the job at CLG that she didn’t agree with the Prime Minister and that she simply wasn’t going to do this bit of her job.’”

While she’s clearly a drag, is it really worth the risk for No 10 of the famously tempestuous, former loyalist, going totally tonto pre-2015? Warsi’s well maintained diaries remain a source of concern in Tory circles… 

The reshuffle speculation level has been raised from ‘fevered’ to ‘panicked’. Guido hears that Downing Street have instructed departments not to schedule anything for a week today. This, however, could be anything from an elaborate bluff, to an unintentional display of competence. The latest chatter still says it’s going to be ladies night and whilst plenty of women MPs are expected to rise up the ranks, vivacious and pushy Esther McVey – tipped for the cabinet by many – is in fact still in the PM’s doghouse after her spectacularly unhelpful comments during the Maria Miller scandal. Penny Mordaunt, who has impressed recently, is tipped to replace Andrew Murrison at Defence. 

Whilst previously Cameron has preferred tinkering reshuffles, there are some whispers of a big upheaval that could even see a job swap between Iain Duncan-Smith at Defence and Phil Hammond at Work and Pensions. Hammond is not hugely popular with the top brass, and could deploy his famed safe pair of hands at DWP, while IDS, a former military man, would be unlikely to accept any other job. Speculation about the future of Grant Shapps at CCHQ has all but died out, while Ken Clarke seems resigned to his fate. This is all rumour mill though…

Any government reshuffle will indicate that the new EU commissioner has been decided, which would point to a delay. Andrew Lansley is said to be out, Willetts has let it be known he speaks French and German, while others say Michael Howard is still worth an outside bet. Lord Howard has certainly not ruled himself out of one last big job, and the PM owes him one after Dave’s then boss delayed the 2005 leadership election to let his favoured successor get their campaign in gear. It would also avoid a messy by-election.

Some in No. 10 are anticipating that in all likelihood No. 10’s first option for Commissioner will be ‘Junck-ed’ in petty retaliation. While in the past, Downing Street have allowed reshuffle rumours to last for months, cunningly keeping everyone on best behaviour, they’re running out of time to bed in new ministers in well before the election. It’s hardly like they’re going to be legislating much, mind.

UPDATE:

What could @David_Cameron possibly do to big foot @MayorofLondon's media drinks next Monday night? #reshuffle

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) July 7, 2014