THE LOGISTICS OF MINISTERIAL RESHUFFLES zy R. K. ALDERMAN AND NEIL CARTER Ministerial reshuffles are complex exercises requiring careful handling. A frequent occurrence in British government, their significance is usually zyxw seen in political terms. Prime Ministers attach great importance to maximizing the political advantages to be gained from them. This factor is the chief determinant of their logistics, the principal characteristics of which are secrecy in advance and the speed with which ministerial changes are executed. These features zyxwvuts - as much as the frequency of ministerial changes per zyx se - may disrupt the policy process and have serious implications for minister-civil servant power relations. Such problems could be alleviated by giving ministers advance notice of changes of post. The institution of a process of ministerial handovers would strengthen the position of incoming ministers by making them less dependent on their officials, upon whom they rely heavily for initial briefing at present. Periodic ministerial reshuffles are a feature of British government (Mrs Thatcher made changes in her Cabinet on 21 separate occasions during her eleven and a half years as Prime Minister). They are prompted by a variety of considerations, both strategic and tactical. The chief motivation for some is an alteration in the political balance of the government to facilitate a change in policy. For others the principal purpose seems to be to enhance the government's public image. Sometimes they have more to do with party management or satisfying demands for preferment. This article is one of a series examining a range of aspects of reshuffles. Earlier work has analysed: the political constraints on prime ministers' freedom of action and the pressures that may compel them to bargain with ministers over the alloca- tion of portfolios (Alderman 1976); the dismissal of ministers (Alderman and Cross 1985); and 'Cabinet rejuvenation' (Alderman and Cross 1986). The associated issues of the length of ministerial tenure and the timing and scale of reshuffles have been examined (Alderman and Cross 1981, 1987). Finally, some of the ways in which reshuffles affect the civil service have been explored (Alderman and Cross 1979). The focus of the present article is a hitherto neglected facet: the planning and execution of reshuffles. The days on which reshuffles occur are occasions of feverish activity both at 10 Downing Street and between it and the Palace and government departments. R. K. Alderman is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Neil Carter is a Lecturer in Politics at the University of York. Public Administration Vol. 70 Winter 1992 (519-534) zyxw 0 1992 Public Administration ISSN 0033-3298 $3.00