Sunak will sleep a little easier with his top team in place

The shake-up of the No 10 press operation gives Rishi Sunak back the network that created his winning brand as chancellor

- Guto Harri

MUSICAL differences. That's what bands used to say to explain painful break-ups and gloss over irreconcilable M conflict. The political equivalent was expressed modestly last week when the top comms chief at No 10 said it was "the right time to move on".

But only 10 months into the job, loved by her team, presiding over a calm and professional operation, and having brought real polish to the broadcast coverage, it was actually an odd time for Amber de Botton to "move on". So what happened? The counter of course is that the Conservatives are 20 points behind in the polls, it's been a chaotic summer of strikes, stubbornly high inflation, a seemingly endless stream of small boats and crumbling concrete in schools. With only a year until the next election is over or very imminent, it's make or break time for the party.

Internal polling shows clearly that Rishi Sunak can still win next year. Man to man he polls well against a Labour leader who is seen as a "chameleon ... standard institutional politician ... all platitudes and no substance". Strikes surely won't go on forever, inflation will fall, the economy will grow and it's hard to believe that next year will feel as hard as last for most households.

But the grim reality of current setbacks causes tensions, and Downing Street is more intense and brutal than almost any boardroom. Clashes of personality, policy, ideology and outlook means that a prime minister sits on a cauldron of conflicting advice, and if they fail to assert their leadership, the tensions boil over.