Under the headline:

Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle gamble has set up a life and death struggle with the Tory right

the political editor of the Express reports:

“There is a belief widely shared that the reshuffle was “about destroying the right of the party.”

In so doing, it was also about “abandoning the new Red Wall seats won in 2019.”

One MP noted: “All the campaign cash is going to wet MPs in the south of England. They are more worried about dealing with the Lib Dem vote.”

This would mean that after an election the party will be “dominated by lefty Lib Dem-ish wets” as one put it.”

Using 1980’s terminology, do we think Simon Jupp is a “wet”, as defined above, or one of the right wing “dries”.

One thing is certain is that Simon Jupp is clearly politically ambitious gaining his experience in “interesting” company.

 He started his political career as a SpAd to Dominic Raab, generally described as a rightwinger, even as being more rightwing on education than Thatcher.

This seemed to give him an entrée into being selected as the Tory candidate to follow Hugo Swire and he was elected an MP in 2019.

Fast forward.

In October 2022 he “united” behind Liz Truss and was rewarded by being newly promoted as a PPS to right-winger Simon Clarke when he became Secretary of State for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities. 

His old boss Simon Clarke used unsubtle sporting metaphors on Monday to make his position clear:

Source

Owl’s view is that Leopards don’t change their spots: be on the lookout for Simon trying  to “reinvent” himself as a lefty LibDemish wet.