Chris Mason: A reshuffle about rewiring, rather than hiring and firing

This feels like a rather Sunakian reshuffle.

Well, days like this often have a deluge of personal career jeopardy, ambition, anger and disappointment front and centre.

Those projected into high office enjoying the choreography of the Downing Street catwalk.

Those rejected from high office getting the private phone call or one-on-one meeting.

Don't get me wrong, there is still a bit of that in the air, as the new cabinet assembled for its delayed weekly meeting.

And yes, privately, there are those bruised by not getting what they'd hoped for.

But there haven't been any sackings.

The attention is on the rather more technocratic rewiring of the structures of government, rather than hiring and (the lack of) firing.

Wholesome if not exactly riveting stuff, so why does it matter?

Because how, or even whether, government works is affected by how government is organised, or not.

So, firstly, there is a new ministry - the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to be led by Grant Shapps.

It's Mr Shapps's third cabinet job since October; his stint as business secretary notable for its longevity at three-and-a-half months, compared to his week as home secretary.

The new Energy Department has a back to the future feel to it, because there used to be a Department of Energy and Climate Change, until Theresa May scrapped it in 2016.

Labour didn't miss a beat pointing that out.

Rishi Sunak argues having a dedicated department will help focus on what he calls "cheaper, cleaner and more secure sources of energy".

What it does do in the immediate term is fulfil a promise he made in the summer when he was campaigning for the Conservative leadership.

Elsewhere, there will be cheers from the likes of Lord Hague and George Freeman, who have long campaigned for a government department that puts science front and centre.

Mr Freeman hasn't become its leader, the secretary of state, but is a minister of state in that department.

A couple of final things to mention:

Firstly, for more than a week, a gig went unoccupied.

But perhaps it's not surprising, finding a new Conservative Party chairman is difficult with tricky local elections in England around the corner and the Tories' poll ratings in the gutter.

But Greg Hands, a veteran minister in several corners of Whitehall, has said yes and so replaces Nadhim Zahawi, who was sacked over his tax affairs.

And secondly, none of this is anything to do with the future of Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister facing bullying allegations he denies.

That is a staffing issue for Mr Sunak that is still loitering, while a lawyer crawls over what happened.

And some striking language from Mr Sunak on this today: "I won't hesitate to take swift and decisive action," he said, were their evidence of a failure of standards or integrity.

It looks like it may be some weeks before we find out one way or the other.

By doing what he did today, the prime minister could remould his government on his own terms, rather than being forced to by circumstance.

But with Mr Raab's future still uncertain, after a day of reshuffling, there may still be more reshuffling to come.