Boris Johnson is set to axe Priti Patel as home secretary in his next reshuffle amid questions in Downing Street over her competence as it emerged that a report into her conduct found that she told civil servants they were f***ing useless.
The prime minister circled the wagons to protect Patel last week, rejecting an official finding that she had bullied officials and broken the ministerial code of conduct.
But multiple sources say he has had conversations about replacing her as home secretary when he recasts his cabinet in the New Year.
Kit Malthouse, the policing minister who was Johnsons deputy mayor for policing in London and is a confidant of the PM, is favourite to take over the job, with Michael Gove and
