Hello, this is Vicky Young with The Week in Westminster.

The beginning of the parliamentary year is often seen by governments

as a moment for a fresh start, a chance to seize the political initiative.

That was certainly Kirstehmus' intention when MPs returned to Westminster on Monday.

He announced significant changes to his team of advisers in number 10,

but they'd barely got through the door before facing a serious political crisis. The Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raina had been

fending off questions about her tax bill, but her denials of any wrongdoing quickly unraveled. By the

end of the week, she was out, and this morning most cabinet ministers find themselves in different jobs.

So what will be the longer-term impact of Angela Rainer's departure?

And what do the new appointments tell us about what the Prime Minister is hoping to achieve?

Part of his aim is to stem the rise of Reform UK.

They're holding their conference in Birmingham this weekend.

We'll assess the challenges facing Nigel Farage. There is a lot to talk about with my guests, Caroline Wheeler, the political editor of the Sunday Times, Ben Riley Smith, the political editor of the Daily Telegraph, and Alva Ray, the Associate Editor of Bloomberg UK.

So let's begin with the resignation of Angela Rainer, who until yesterday was the Deputy Prime Minister. Caroline, obviously, it's destabilising for the

government. How do you assess how big a blow it is to Kirstama? I think it's a massive blow to the

Prime Minister, to lose your Deputy Prime Minister, but also to lose your deputy leader, which is obviously a position which is elected by the membership of the party, is absolutely catastrophic for them.

It's been one of a number of resignations that we've seen over the course of the last year and a bit.

And I think it is also devastating that

somebody with her credentials, somebody that really spoke to the kind of working class voters

that are all turning to reform in their droves has basically been ejected from cabinet,

has left, has gone.

And actually they'll find it quite difficult to find somebody that speaks with that kind of

...