Esther McVey mocked as she’s forced to confirm Tory ministers do have ‘common sense’

We inched ever closer to finding out exactly what Esther McVey’s ministerial role is earlier this week, as she had to confirm on the BBC’s Question Time that her Conservative colleagues do, in fact, have “common sense”.

The GB News presenter was made a minister without portfolio in last month’s dramatic reshuffle, triggered by the sacking of Suella Braverman as home secretary which also saw former prime minister David Cameron make a shock return to frontline politics.

It was met with ridicule when it was announced, as it was understood McVey’s new position had been dubbed the “minister for common sense” with a focus on fighting “wokery”.

A Whitehall source told The Sun she would be “leading the charge on the government’s anti-woke agenda, streamlining as a minister attending the cabinet”.

Even members of her own party were critical of McVey’s appointment, with former Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg branding the role as “flim flam”.

“What is her role? Explain her role in one sentence.

“What is a ‘tsar for wokedom’? What does it mean?

“I don’t believe in tokenistic phrases for government posts, I think you should have proper titles like home secretary and foreign secretary and things of that kind,” the MP told Channel 4 News, seemingly forgetting he was once the “minister for Brexit opportunities”.

Awkward.

Now, during Thursday’s Question Time, we finally heard from McVey herself about what it is exactly that she does in the Cabinet Office, claiming it’s about ““working on behalf of the people to bring pragmatism into politics”.

Right…

She explained: “It’s known as without portfolio, which means you work across portfolios, so it is about scrutiny, it is about oversight, it’s making sure there’s delivery for money.”

The Tatton MP gave an example of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delaying the net zero commitment to ban new petrol and diesel cars as an example of common sense, though host Fiona Bruce pointed out that was announced back in October, before she was handed the role.

The broadcaster interjected: “He’s done that already, so why does he need you?”

Responding by saying there is “more to do”, McVey continued: “I think getting rid of HS2 – that leg there from Birmingham to Manchester – was another bout of common sense.”

Bruce queried again: “So just to be clear, because these are things that happened already, before you were minister for common sense.

“Now you are minister for common sense, is that suggesting that the ministers that already doing their jobs in the various departments of government, they don’t have any common sense? So you’ve got to come in and display more common sense?”

The question was met with laughter and applause from the audience, with McVey forced to insist that “they do have common sense, absolutely”.

Bruce pressed further: “But it’s not enough?”

Yet more laughter, after which McVey claimed it was about “bringing in a scrutiny” and that the ‘minister for common sense’ had been given as a “fun name” for the role.

Sensing an opportunity for further ridicule, fellow panellist and comedian Zoe Lyons added: “I can understand now how being presented with a minister for common sense is quite irksome.

“All I can imagine in my head is that your office is beside the minister of funny walks – it’s on that sort of level.”

And so, once again, McVey was mocked online for the role’s informal title:

According to the government’s own website, McVey’s responsibilities in the role include “supporting [the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden] on driving delivery of [the] government’s priorities” and helping Dowden and the minister for the cabinet office, John Glen, with “ensuring efficiency and value for money” in government policy and delivery.

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