Britain has had six foreign secretaries in four years. This century, we have had a new housing minister every year on average. And we have had more prime ministers in the last 10 years than in the previous 36.
Such churn in ministerial office is inimical to good administration. Just as a minister is beginning to understand the complex challenges of their department, the government car takes them to a new office where they are rendered useless by ignorance.
There was a time when Sir Keir Starmer seemed to agree with this analysis. He criticised the Conservatives for the instability of high ministerial turnover and promised a more settled period in the nation’s affairs.
So it was a surprise that he used Angela Rayner’s resignation to bring forward a reshuffle that he had already planned, and which involved moving more than half the cabinet.
Apparently, the drawback of a high turnover of ministers is the biggest thing on which Sir Keir has changed his mind since he has been in office and seen how Whitehall operates. He now thinks it is more important to clear out, without delay, ministers who are not working effectively. He accepts that a new administration, largely made up of ministers who have not served in government before, is bound to find that it does not square up perfectly to the needs of the hour. Thus he was prepared to make sweeping changes after just 14 months in office.
He may well be right. It is certainly true that the benefit of having ministers with a deep understanding of their brief has to be weighed against the costs of allowing underperforming ministers to stay in their posts long after it has become clear that they are an obstacle to progress.
And it is fair to say that no team coming into government from a long period in opposition can ever be fully prepared for the pressures of office – although it must also be said that Sir Keir’s shadow cabinet seemed particularly ill prepared for the tasks that they had set themselves.
We should, therefore, judge this cabinet reshuffle on its merits. Two appointments stand out. Shabana Mahmood seems well qualified as home secretary. This is a post that needs courage, a driving sense of urgency and a refusal to take no for an answer. These are qualities that Ms Mahmood has shown at the justice department.
While Yvette Cooper has brought calm competence to the Home Office, the small boats crisis has only got worse on her watch, and her skills would be better deployed at the Foreign Office.
The other important appointment is that of Pat McFadden as work and pensions secretary. Again, his predecessor was not much at fault. Liz Kendall was given an impossible instruction by a desperate chancellor, who needed to make savings to keep the public finances on an even keel. Ms Kendall had no time to design a programme for the reform of incapacity benefits that would change incentives, get people into work and reduce the projected increase in public spending, so she had to resort to simple cuts in personal independence payments that were unacceptable to Labour MPs.
That unfortunate episode was born of inexperience, but it needs a new minister to make a fresh start, who will tackle the cause of increased welfare spending rather than simply swinging the axe. Mr McFadden, another Blairite reformer, is well qualified for the task.
The other cabinet changes are less convincing. Douglas Alexander is an able and experienced politician who served in the last Labour government, but it is hard to see what Ian Murray has done to justify his departure as Scottish secretary. Similarly, it is unclear what Jonathan Reynolds, the former business secretary, has done to deserve being made chief whip.
Nevertheless, the promotions for Ms Mahmood and Mr McFadden inspire some confidence that the government, as it moves into a more mature phase, will get a grip on the critical challenges of migration and welfare costs.
Overall, the cabinet seems now to consist of more round pegs in round holes.
On balance, therefore, we judge that the costs of ministerial turnover will be outweighed by the gains in the effectiveness of the government.
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