Like Brokenshire, who he replaces as Security Minister, he is willing to return to government at a lower rank.
Should he be handcuffed under public restraint, like a suspect watched by Priti Patel? Or freed to run wild through Alpine meadows, like Julie Andrews?
Nineteen Conservative backbenchers spoke against the policy. It’s doubtful whether a top-down targets system will pass the Commons.
Johnson will almost certainly decide to tough it out. But he will have a big problem if school returns prove tricky.
With one of the Britain’s top educational institutions moving its courses online, there are big questions to ask about the future of the industry.
Politicians get a kicking, sometimes deservedly, but if you want an example of committed public service, look no further, on this reshuffle day, than at this one.
He is one of the few elements of continuity in what has been a turbulent year at the Government’s top table.
A global approach to quite different challenges has failed. A long-term decline in specialised teaching skills must be reversed.
Many of us have seen first-hand unofficial exclusions leading to permanent off-rolling. These schools make families feel that they are the problem.
Also: don’t cut members out of the contest. And the right exam question for candidates is: who can best win a general election?
The second in our mini-series of pieces from the Centre for Social Justice on the virus – and helping those in deep poverty.