David Cameron 'will live to regret' cabinet reshuffle

By Max Hastings

Published: 18:54 EST, 15 July 2014 | Updated: 03:07 EST, 16 July 2014

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The demotion of Michael Gove, pictured, from Education Secretary to Chief Whip has 'shocked Middle England'

Most government reshuffles are - to put it bluntly - non-events: they are mere shifts of faceless men and women, vying with each other for insignificance.

But this one was in a different league, a small earthquake in Whitehall.

The sacking of Michael Gove - for assuredly, his demotion from Education Secretary to Chief Whip amounts to nothing less - has shocked Middle England.

Here was the undisputed Tory hero of the past four years - a man with a mission, a crusader, an obsessive, who has shown the courage to hurl himself into the task of salvaging Britains ruined schools system in a fashion no other holder of his office in modern times has attempted.

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David Cameron 'will live to regret' cabinet reshuffle