A certain floppy haired ex-mayor and TV panel show host may have stolen the headlines, but the really remarkable thing about Theresa May's snap reshuffle is how prolifically she wielded the axe.

With the chancellor replaced, the new prime minister swiftly added the word 'former' to the titles of justice secretary Michael Gove, education secretary Nicky Morgan, culture secretary John Whittingdale, and Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin.

Theresa Villiers left too as Northern Ireland secretary, having been offered a different post and turned it down, while work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb's departure appears to have been voluntary, perhaps triggered by a recent scandal over texts he sent to a woman who was not his wife.

It comes as something of a jolt to realise quite how few of her cabinet colleagues Mrs May appears to have viewed as the best person for the job.

Some of the changes are quite understandable. Having appointed Boris Johnston as Foreign Secretary, she could hardly have kept Mr Gove in the cabinet given the recent bad blood between them.

Mrs May and Mr Gove's own relationship has been troubled enough in any case, but it would have made for some awkward encounters at the cabinet tea urn.

But such tensions are not eliminated by these appointments. New Home Secretary Amber Rudd was blunt enough about Mr Johnson during the EU referendum. The life and soul of the party he may be, she said, "but he’s not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening".

Other widely-rumoured changes did not materialise. Jeremy Hunt, despite suggestions that he had been sacked, resumes his role as health secretary, and declared himself "thrilled" to be back. Junior doctors would probably use a different word, but that's medical jargon for you.

The prominence of women is noteworthy: Amber Rudd is seen as a moderate within the Conservative Party, while Justine Greening, who replaces Gove ally Nicky Morgan, is socially liberal. Astonishingly, she is the first education secretary to have attended a mainstream comprehensive school. Liz Truss is Justice secretary, there are roles for Priti Patel and recent leadership challenger Andrea Leadsom.

But the international reaction to Boris Johnston's appointment was a mixture of derision and bafflement. Little wonder for someone who referred to black Commonweath citizens as "flag-waving picaninnies", and described the US president Barack Obama as "part-Kenyan".

With the Labour Party embroiled in internal dissent there will be an important role for the SNP through its Westminster MPs in helping provide an effective opposition.

Strong right wingers promoted to the front bench include Scottish hardliner Liam Fox, David Davis who will head up the new Brexit department and Mrs Leadsom who will take on the Environment brief.

Boris Johnson aside, the Old Etonians may be in abeyance. But these appointments will only confirm the views of those who questioned the sincerity of Mrs May's speech pledging to work for the good of "ordinary working class families". The rhetoric may have been stirring, but this is surely not a cabinet well-equipped to tackle the "burning injustice" Mrs May recently spoke so passionately about?