Therese Coffey 'was told she was neglecting Health Secretary brief'

2022-10-29

The Truss Files: Flailing PM’s closest ally Therese Coffey ‘was told she was neglecting her Health Secretary brief’ and going ‘rogue’ by meeting foreign dignitaries without Liz’s knowledge

Ms Coffey was both Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister
But one source said she was too distracted by No10 role to focus on health
She was also accused of running independent foreign policy in her roles
This was because she met Leo Varadkar without Truss’s knowledge

Liz Truss’s most senior ally Therese Coffey was accused by senior No 10 aides of ‘going rogue’ and ‘neglecting her health brief’ as she set about establishing a power base in 12 Downing Street.

Ms Coffey was both Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister but according to one source, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case accused her of being too distracted by her No 10 role to concentrate on rising Covid levels and other NHS problems.

She was also accused of ‘running an independent foreign policy’ after meeting Irish trade minister Leo Varadkar in Downing Street without Ms Truss’s knowledge.

A fellow Minister said: ‘Liz came down from her flat and noticed someone had put the Irish flag out. Her teenage daughter said, ‘Oh, that’s Aunty Therese. She’s having a meeting with Leo Varadkar’.’

Another Minister said: ‘One of Therese’s obsessions was the Home Office. She was so keen on managing what Suella [Braverman] was doing she ended up chairing the Home Affairs cabinet committee.’ The Minister added Mr Case was forced to intervene in managing her health department as ‘she was hardly ever there’.

She was also accused of ‘running an independent foreign policy’ after meeting Irish trade minister Leo Varadkar in Downing Street without Ms Truss’s knowledge

In one meeting Mr Case allegedly said, ‘Look, are we actually going to discuss the fact Covid hospitalisations have doubled in a month’.

Her alleged insistence on an office in No 12 Downing Street – traditionally used by the Chief Whip – also ‘created tensions’. One official said: ‘She insisted on basing herself there to be close to Liz.’

She was appointed Environment Secretary in Tuesday’s reshuffle.

A source close to her said the meeting with Mr Varadkar was arranged via the Cabinet Office.

She chaired the Home Affairs Committee ‘because she was asked to do it’.

The source added that neither Mr Case nor anyone else had raised issues with Ms Coffey about her management of the Department of Health.

Ms Coffey’s spokesperson said: ‘She set out her ABCD Plan for Patients to parliament, oversaw the successful rollout of flu and Covid jabs and reinforced NHS winter plans. She reorientated the department to focus on patients’ priorities and worked with the NHS to understand huge variability in care between locations.’

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