Since 2016, the UK has burned through ministers at a striking rate: eight chancellors, nine foreign secretaries, ten education secretaries and six prime ministers, a pace of turnover far exceeding the decade before. The article contrasts this with the relative stability of 2006-2016, when far fewer people held these posts, highlighting how increasingly frequent reshuffles under successive prime ministers have hollowed out continuity in senior government roles.

The chancellor's role alone has passed through figures including Philip Hammond, Sajid Javid, Rishi Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi and Kwasi Kwarteng (each lasting mere weeks), Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves, compared with just three chancellors in the previous decade. Other departments show similarly rapid churn, with justice secretary changing hands 11 times, housing secretary 10 times, and health, environment and Northern Ireland secretaries all seeing eight to ten different holders since 2016, with some, such as Michelle Donelan, lasting only days in post.