A cabinet reshuffle is when the government changes who is in charge of different departments. The changes can be small or they can involve a lot of promotions, demotions and even the creation of new ministerial roles. Reshuffles usually happen when someone resigns, when a Prime Minister is worried about opinion polls or when they want to change policy. It’s also a way to show loyalty to party members or reward people for their work. It can be hard for the public to keep track of who is in charge of what. This constant churn also makes it harder to hold ministers accountable for policies they have overseen.
The word ‘cabinet’ comes from the idea of a room in which advisers meet but it was not used to describe the group of ministers until the 18th century. It was then shortened from cabinet of advisors to cabinet, and later cabinet of ministers.
While almost all countries have a group of executive ministers, they vary in the name they give it and how powerful they are. Some have the title cabinet while others call it a council of ministers or a council of state. A few have a parliament with the power to remove ministers or other officials and so a more robust check-and-balance system exists.
Prime Ministers often wish to maintain their authority by controlling who gets the top jobs and so reshuffles are frequent. But the process can backfire if it’s used to punish political rivals or to exercise party discipline. This could be why there have been calls for time limits on ministerial appointments. This would give ministers stability and make it less likely they will be moved around for political purposes.