Mr Dowden has also been tipped as a possible replacement for Mr Wallace if the Defence Secretary role changes hands. Back-bench MPs Suella Braverman and Gillian Keegan were also among those in line for promotion on Thursday. Insiders said that Mr Johnson would not reduce the number of women in full Cabinet roles though there could be a reduction in the total number of women at Cabinet. He would, however, ensure half of all junior ministers – parliamentary secretaries of state – were women who could progress through the ranks to create a gender balance in Cabinet. Mr Wallace, who was made Defence Secretary by Mr Johnson last July, told friends he believed his job was safe but on Wednesday admitted he couldn’t be sure. Asked if he was nervous about the reshuffle, he said: “I’m keen to serve, I enjoy the job as Defence Secretary, I’m a veteran, I’m a northern MP, I was actually in the Army. So I think all of those hopefully qualify me, but who knows?” Mr Wallace was due at the security conference but the Government chose Andrew Murrison, the foreign office minister, to take his place. Alex Younger, head of MI6, also changed his plans and will not attend. Senior Tories warned the Government against downgrading its presence at the global summit and pointed out the list of senior figures from ally countries attending, including Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state. Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence select committee and a former defence minister, said: “Given Britain’s intention to play a much more influential role, we should not miss any opportunity to engage and lead debate at important international conferences.” Asked why Mr Younger was not going, the Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “I am not going to comment on C’s [the head of MI6"s] travel plans.” Ms Trevelyan, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, was promoted to her current role in December, having been brought into government as defence procurement minister last July. She will be told about her promotion during a reshuffle that will start at 8am on Thursday when ministers being sacked will be asked to visit the Prime Minister’s office in Parliament, saving them the so-called “walk of shame” in Downing Street. Mr Johnson will then begin summoning ministers being promoted to No 10 from 10am. The reshuffle is expected to be over by 3pm and completed by the evening, when junior ministers will be appointed. Mr Wallace is in Brussels for a Nato summit and not due to return until after the reshuffle is over. Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s chief adviser, is reported to have urged the Prime Minister to sack the Defence Secretary. Whitehall sources suggested it was unlikely he would be replaced with Ms Trevelyan if he lost his post, as she lacked experience. It was also unclear whether Mr Sharma would be replaced by another Cabinet-level minister or whether DfID would be downgraded to an “attending Cabinet” role, ahead of wider Whitehall reform later this year. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Leader of the House of Commons, is expected to keep his job despite being sidelined during the election campaign, and Stephen Barclay, the former Brexit secretary whose department was abolished on Jan 31, is tipped for a Cabinet return. Lucy Frazer QC, the prisons minister, is tipped for a promotion to Cabinet, which would enable Mr Johnson to sack Andrea Leadsom, the Business Secretary, or Theresa Villiers, the Environment Secretary. Ms Frazer could become Attorney General, replacing Geoffrey Cox, who made a public appeal to remain in his role, describing it as the “greatest honour of my professional life”. A No 10 source said: “The Prime Minister will reward those MPs who have worked hard to deliver on this Government’s priorities to level up the whole country and deliver the change people voted for last year.” Mr Dowden, Mr Sharma, Ms Trevelyan and Ms Braverman all backed Mr Johnson during the Tory leadership race. Concern over Cummings Meanwhile, a backlash was mounting among ministers who said Mr Johnson was so in thrall to Mr Cummings that MPs were unable to see him. One said: “Every time we go to see him Dominic appears.” Another said: “He is like Aung San Suu Kyi, he has been taken over by the military junta.” A third said: “There are some Cabinet ministers who have still not yet had one-to-one meetings with him. That is a problem.”