The MP Rishi Sunak has handed the job of winning the next general election to currently does not have a seat to fight at the next election.
North West Durham MP Richard Holden will see his seat abolished in the boundary changes and is currently looking at where to run at the next election.
His appointment comes as Mr Sunak appeared to tire of the previous Conservative chairman Greg Hands after a series of humiliating by-election defeats, appalling local elections in May and the party continuing to languist around 20 points behind Labour in the polls.
Mr Holden is a former staff member at CCHQ and won his Red Wall seat against Corbynista Laura Pidcock in 2019.
He has been a staunch ally of Mr Sunak backing him in both leadership elections last year.
The Prime Minister has decided he needed a change in running CCHQ with a trusted ally but there have been eyebrows raised that Mr Holden was still looking for a seat.
One Tory MP noted: “I guess Richard can have his pick of safe seats now.”
The move came as a surprise on a dramatic day in Downing Street which began with Suella Braverman being sacked as Home Secretary being replaced by James Cleverly followed by David Cameron returning to Government and a seat in the Lords.
Former Health Secretary Steve Barclay has moved to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) while Therese Coffey has been sacked.
Mr Holden’s promotion from roads minister has been welcomed in some parts of the party and met with surprise in others.
One Tory insider said: “The appointment of Richard Holden as chairman is an unbelievable missed opportunity. To bury someone with his talents in party HQ is the epitome of giving up.”
But another said: “This chap was a data entry employee at CCHQ, then a spad, then stood and accidentally won his Red Wall seat in 2019. Now he’s party chairman?? To inspire who exactly?”
Meanwhile, Mr Hands appears to have been sacked from the government after growing criticism of his perceived failures.
He had become well known for producing Labour’s old letter left in the Treasury after they lost power in the 2010 election saying “there’s no money left”.
On social media, he was being mocked by opponents saying: “There is no job left.”
