Rishi Sunak has prepared for the new political term with a mini-shuffle, promoting his closest political ally Claire Coutinho to energy secretary and Grant Shapps to defence secretary. What do the limited changes say about the PM’s grip on his party? The FT’s Whitehall editor Lucy Fisher is joined by columnist Stephen Bush and political correspondent Anna Gross to analyse the shake-up. Plus, what, if anything, did James Cleverly’s visit to China achieve? And Lucy is also joined by the FT’s public policy editor Peter Foster to examine how the UK government is coping with post-Brexit rule changes.

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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‘Safe pair of hands’ Grant Shapps appointed UK defence secretary

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Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Audrey Tinline. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Audio mix and original music by Breen Turner. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. 

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