Poll: David Cameron's reshuffle boosts Tories

Six in ten voters believe the reshuffle - which demoted Michael Gove and promoted several female ministers - was a step in the right direction for the Conservatives, ORB International survey shows

David Camerons Cabinet reshuffle has boosted the Conservatives chances at the next election as most voters give his new ministerial team their approval, a new poll shows.

The ORB International survey for the Telegraph shows that six in ten voters believe the reshuffle - which demoted Michael Gove and promoted several female ministers - was a step in the right direction for the Tories.

Some 59 per cent of people questioned backed the shake-up of ministerial jobs, while 41 per cent had doubts.

The reshuffle received the most positive response from Tory voters, 87 per cent of whom approved. And in a result that will encourage Downing Street, half of Ukip voters took a positive view of the shake-up.

Even 45 per cent of Labour supporters said the reshuffle was good for the Tories, according to the survey of 2,000 adults, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

The findings came as one of the ministers whom Mr Cameron sacked launched an extraordinary attack on his political opponents.

Interactive chart: 'The PM's reshuffle is a step in the right direction'

In an article for The Telegraph, Owen Paterson, the former Environment Secretary, says that he accepts the Prime Ministers right to choose his team but argues that the jubilant reaction to his sacking from green activists shows he was challenging them rather effectively.

Mr Paterson mounts a vigorous defence of his record battling the influence of green groups in Brussels, fighting Liberal Democrats in coalition over wind farms, and responding to the flooding of the Somerset Levels last winter.

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Poll: David Cameron's reshuffle boosts Tories