Eric Pickles is being lined up for the job of party chairman, according to reports in the Sunday People yesterday about a forthcoming cabinet reshuffle.
The paper reported that Pickles is due to leave his role as communities secretary as part of a cabinet reshuffle aimed at wooing voters back from UKIP. It tipped employment minister, Esther McVey as his replacement.
A senior Tory told the Sunday People: ‘Eric is exactly what the party needs. He’s a bluff man of the people who always gets straight to the point.’
However, sources close to the communities secretary told The MJ the reports were simply ‘speculation'.
Prime minister, David Cameron, is thought to be holding off the reshuffle until after the Newark by-election this week.
