Justine Greening QUITS and Jeremy Hunt REFUSES to move to Business Secretary – torpedoing Theresa May’s reshuffle as she makes minor Cabinet changes

JUSTINE Greening has QUIT the Government after refusing to move departments - torpedoing Theresa May's reshuffle.

The Education Secretary stormed out of No10 this evening - just hours after Jeremy Hunt persuaded an embattled Prime Minister to let him stay in HIS job.

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Ms Greening dramatically left Mrs May's team tonight this after turning down a move to the Department of Work and Pensions.

The Former Education Secretary spent more than two and a half hours in No10 but then it was revealed she didn't want the post - and resigned.

She will be replaced by Employment Minister Damian Hinds.

A Government source said the PM was "disappointed" but respected her decision to leave the Government, where she had been in post since Mrs May's first reshuffle in July 2016.

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And the Health Secretary Mr Hunt fought his corner to remain in post and told the Prime Minister he was determined to integrate social care better into the health service - amid a crisis in Britain's hospitals which has forced thousands of operations to be cancelled.

Mr Hunt was believed to be moving into a new position as the turbo-charged Business Secretary with a mission to revitalise Britain’s post-Brexit economy.

But after being inside Number 10 all afternoon, a shock announcement was put out to say that he was in fact staying right where he was – except his role was expanded to make him the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

A No10 source said this evening: "Jeremy's reaction to the BEIS offer was more than a little surprising.

"But he made a very good argument and the PM was persuaded. He was in there with her for a long time.

"It's pretty admirable of him to stay in health, he wants to finish the job."

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The decision means a reprieve for the current business secretary Greg Clark, who was widely expected to be forced out of the Cabinet after a series of rows with Mrs May.

Mrs May brought back another old face to the Tory top table with the appointment of Esther McVey to head up the Department for Work and Pensions.

The current MP for Tatton was kicked out in a shock result at the 2015 election when she was a junior minister, but she won back George Osborne's old seat last June.

The Prime Minister had been expected to shake up her top team today but there have been virtually no new faces in her Cabinet as she simply shifts existing ministers to new roles.

Other announcements included:

• Brandon Lewis and James Cleverly appointed as chair and deputy chair of the Conservatives
• Patrick McLoughlin left the Tory front bench after more than 30 years
• A host of new vice chairs were appointed to CHCQ including rising star from the 2017 intake Kemi Badenoch
• James Brokenshire resigned as Northern Ireland secretary due to ill-health - replaced by Karen Bradley
• David Lidington moved to Cabinet Secretary from Justice
• Replacing him is David Gauke, the former Work and Pensions Secretary
• Esther McVey returned to Government as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
• Andrea Leadsom, rumoured to get the sack, stays as Leader of the House of Commons
• Cabinet big beasts Amber Rudd, Philip Hammond, Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and David Davis are confirmed to be staying put
• So is Chris Grayling, despite the Tories' tweet that he was being promoted
• Sajid Javid also stays in the same department, which is newly named "Housing, Communities and Local Government"
• Matt Hancock becomes Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport - the same department where he was a junior minister
• Liz Truss stays on as Chief Secretary to the Treasury
• Julian Smith keeps his role as Chief Whip

It capped off a farcical day in Downing Street, which began poorly when the party forced to delete a tweet revealing the wrong person as its new chairman.

The Conservatives posted a message announcing that Chris Grayling was replacing Sir Patrick McLoughlin - but seconds later they erased their congratulations for the Transport Secretary.

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It was then revealed shortly after that Brandon Lewis, the current immigration minister, will become party chairman and attend Cabinet meetings as a "Minister without Portfolio".

However even this announcement failed to go off without a hitch, after the official Number 10 account tweeted the news, only to then delete that message too.

They quickly re-posted it after spelling the word "portfolio" wrong.

Finally, around eight hours after he was first tipped for promotion, Mr Grayling was confirmed to be remaining in his current job.

It was the first of a raft of new party appointments, as Mrs May seeks to create a younger, dynamic team to take the fight to Labour in 2018 and beyond.

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Mr McLoughlin had been widely expected to be ditched today as he paid the price for last year‘s disastrous snap election campaign.

Asked if he was disappointed to be leaving the Cabinet, he told Sky News: "I've been in the Cabinet eight years. I have had a very good run and I enjoyed it immensely."

And in his letter to Mrs May he wrote: “As we discussed some months ago, I feel the time is now right for me to leave the Cabinet.”

He added: We have so much talent now in the junior ministerial ranks and on the back benches and I know you need to bring them on to secure the future of our party and the country as a whole.”

The new Deputy Chair of the Conservatives is James Cleverly, one of several from the 2015 intake to be handed beefed up positions.

And rising stars Kemi Badenoch and Ben Bradley - who only became MPs less than a year ago - are being made vice chairs for candidates and youth.

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Back at the Cabinet level the Prime Minister appointed Karen Bradley as the new Northern Ireland Secretary - after The Sun revealed James Brokenshire is resigning from the role citing ill health.

In a letter to the PM he revealed doctors have told him he has a small lesion on his right lung and will be need to have surgery in the coming weeks to remove it.

Ms Bradley's replacement as Culture Secretary is Matt Hancock, who was working in the department already as a Digital Minister.

Mrs May has also replaced Damian Green as Cabinet Secretary with the former Justice Secretary David Lidington.

But he has not also been given the title of First Secretary of State, with it seeming unlikely to give anyone else the de facto deputy PM role.

Replacing him is David Gauke, the former Work and Pensions Secretary. He has been tasked with solving the problems around Universal Credit, leaving a tricky vacancy she must fill.

Promotions for the ambitious 2015 intake of Conservative MPs expected tomorrow.

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So far Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Brexit Secretary David Davis - and a handful of other ministers - will all remain in their present posts.

And Sajid Javid has been kept on in his same role, but in a newly-named department with an added focus on housing.

He is now the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - but will be known colloquially as the "Housing Secretary" - rather than the "Local Government Secretary".

Number 10 sources also indicate the more junior ministerial appointments would continue into a second day on Tuesday.

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Mrs May is also said to formally appoint a "minister for no deal", specifically to prepare for the eventuality that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

The post could go to Steve Baker - currently a minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union – whose remit already includes “contingency planning”.

And Rob Oxley, a former special advisor to a number of Cabinet ministers, said: “My money on this ‘no deal minister’ would be that Steve Baker moves up to Minister of State at the Brexit department and will attend Cabinet and sit on a number of committees.”