Will Lord Hermer survive a reshuffle?

For some time now, the Attorney General Lord Hermer, who along with Ed Miliband is one of two Jewish members of the cabinet, has been the butt of Tory attack lines on the government.

“One Labour peer, Lord Glasman, has called him ‘the absolute archetype of an arrogant, progressive fool’”, said Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs on Wednesday.

“If we are serious about protecting our borders, we need to make sure that we appoint people who believe in our country and everything we stand for. It is not clear that the Attorney General does.”

Likwise, Tory MP David Reed lambasted the Prime Minister and his “north London lawyer friends” who, he claimed, “are giving away the Chagos islands”; Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick had made similar criticism last week.

As well as being a friend, Hermer was a former colleague of Starmer’s when the two were both barristers at Doughty Street chambers.

But the i newspaper is reporting that cabinet reshuffle is in the offing and speculate that Hermer could be one of those under threat.

Although Downing Street told the JC that they never comment on press speculation about a reshuffle, what may worry Hermer is a report in the Times that some of Hermer’s cabinet colleagues have attacked his “finickity” interpretation of the law, which they claim has created a “freeze on government”.

These concerns were echoed by one Labour MP who told the JC that: “Nobody seems to have anything complimentary to say about him in government.”

In a rare interview given to the House Magazine last month, Hermer made a staunch defence of the rule of law.

The Attorney General defiantly told critics: “If they want to pick a fight with the government because it says international law is important and that we want to uphold international law, then that’s a fight I’d quite look forward to.”

His legal past has proved to be a quite a target-rich environment for both Tories and tabloids.

Hermer has acted for Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who has long been accused of being a senior IRA leader during the Troubles (claims he has always denied), and for human rights group Liberty on behalf of “ISIS bride” Shamima Begum.

In 2023 he had opposed the previous Conservative government’s so-called anti-BDS bill, saying that it would have “a profoundly detrimental impact on the United Kingdom’s ability to protect and promote human rights overseas”.

Although as Attorney General he cannot disclose the topics on which he has advised the government, his critics – both outside of Labour and within the party – have attempted to paint him as someone who doesn’t “get” the demands of electoral politics.

This pressure on Labour is particularly acute with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK now leading multiple opinion polls.

However, one Labour source told the JC they thought that some ministers might be projecting their own inadequacies onto Hermer.

“I don’t know the extent to which the legislation the government is putting forward is up to scratch”, they said, implying that he might be a convenient scapegoat.

However, they conceded that, when it came to his high-flying legal career before entering government, “some of the things he said in the past are unhelpful”.

They also aired criticism about whether what Hermer sees as within his remit is different to what might be best for the government: “There seem to have been some concerns over a lack of clarity about how he sees the role: his client is the government.

“He should be representing them, not adjudicating at a distance”, they added.

Despite his personal closeness to Starmer, Hermer’s appointment as Attorney General shortly after Labour’s electoral victory came as a surprise.

Emily Thornberry, who had served as Shadow Attorney General in opposition for just shy of three years, was widely anticipated to continue in the role. But, despite not even being a peer at the time and lacking any experience of frontline politics, Hermer was handed the government’s top legal job.

Another Labour source suggested that the surprise nature of his appointment might have been detrimental to his prospects in government.

He didn’t “have the opportunity to develop relationships” with his new cabinet colleagues, they claimed.

But they also warned Labour colleagues against embracing attacks on the rule of law and the legal profession out of dislike of Hermer.

“This government came to power after years of rightly pouring scorn on the Tories for apparently thinking it's only the little people who have to follow the law”, they said, adding: “It would be a shame to send a signal just seven months later that we might end up going the same way.”

One Labour MP who the JC spoke to, though, claimed that speculation about a reshuffle and the fate of cabinet ministers was the obsession of the Westminster bubble and not being brought up by voters.

“Literally no one cares about this nonsense. They just want to know when the new police arrive, when they can see a GP and when new homes will be built”, they fumed.

“The gulf between what people give a s*** about in the real world and the opinionated bilge spewed by some hacks who claim they know what people care about is widening daily”, they added.

Lord Hermer has been contacted for comment.