UK Cabinet reshuffle, May 2006

Following poor results for the Labour Party in the local elections in England on 4 May 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a Cabinet reshuffle the following day.

John Reid moved from Defence to become the new Home Secretary, following Blair's decision to remove Charles Clarke from the position. Clarke refused the offer of other Cabinet positions and returned to the back benches. This was John Reid's ninth cabinet position in nine years.

Margaret Beckett, previously Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was promoted to become Britain's first ever female Foreign Secretary, replacing Jack Straw. Straw had held the prominent position from 2001 and was heavily involved in the War on terror. Straw's departure from his role as Foreign Secretary had not been widely predicted, but the move apparently came at his own request for a change following nearly a decade of service in front-line positions in the Cabinet, first as Home Secretary and then as Foreign Secretary although others have argued that Straw was sacked for his growing allegiance with Gordon Brown and dismissal of military action against Iran. Straw became Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal, and also took over responsibility for reform of the House of Lords and political party funding.

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