JACOB Rees-Mogg has been moved from Commons Leader to Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency in the Cabinet Office, No 10 said.

At the same time, Mark Spencer has been moved from Chief Whip to Commons Leader as part the Boris Johnson reshuffle, No 10 said.

The shake-up of the ministerial team follows the appointment of Stephen Barclay as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff and comes as Johnson seeks to relaunch his administration following the partygate row.

Rees-Mogg, previously the Leader of the House of Commons, will still sit at the Cabinet table in his new role.

It is thought that Rees-Mogg’s work will link into the Government’s Brexit Opportunities Unit, which is focused on “making sure the policy, laws and regulations are helping to boost growth, drive forward innovation and increase competition in the UK”.

Spencer, the new Commons Leader, played a leading role in trying to get Tory MPs to support a shake-up of Commons sleaze rules in an attempt to spare Owen Paterson from being suspended, incurring their wrath when the controversial plan was subsequently abandoned.

He also failed to prevent a revolt by 100 Tories over Covid rules and faced claims – which he has denied – that he told MP Nusrat Ghani she lost her ministerial role because her Muslim faith made people feel uncomfortable.

Elsewhere, Chris Heaton-Harris has become the Chief Whip, having been Europe Minister.

The Daventry MP was previously chief whip for the Tories in the European Parliament, which will at least give him some idea of the challenges that await him.

He also reportedly played a role in the “shadow whipping operation” aimed at seeing off efforts to oust the Prime Minister.

Commenting on the mini reshuffle, the SNP's Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald MP said: “No amount of shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic can stop Boris Johnson’s sleaze-ridden government from sinking further into chaos."

Meanwhile in a podcast released on Tuesday and recorded on Monday, Rees-Mogg said he did not recollect feeding the Prime Minister the controversial jibe about Sir Keir Starmer failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile while he was director of public prosecutions.

The Sunday Times reported that Rees-Mogg “originally whispered” the idea of using the attack to Boris Johnson in the House of Commons last week.

But the Cabinet minister said that while he “mentioned the point about journalists”, he was not close enough to Johnson to “feed him lines”.