New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday reshuffled his Cabinet, retaining Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor, Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary, while appointing Dominic Raab as Deputy Prime Minister and Suella Braverman as Home Secretary.
“Jeremy Hunt re-appointed as UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer,” tweeted Conservative Party.
Hunt was appointed chancellor by former prime minister Liz Truss 11 days ago, after turmoil in the financial markets following the mini-budget and its platform of unfunded tax cuts.
Hunt – who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng – junked nearly all of Truss’ tax cuts and is credited with restoring some confidence in the markets. As a result, he had been expected to stay on as chancellor by many pundits.
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“Dominic Raab has been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary,” added the Conservative Party.
During the summer’s Tory leadership contest, Raab was among the few Sunak-backers who carried on talking him up even when Truss’ victory was all but certain.
Last week, he pledged his support for Sunak after saying that he couldn’t back Boris Johnson as prime minister while the Partygate inquiry continued.
Raab is a staunch Brexiteer and was Brexit Secretary in July 2018 – quitting only months later in opposition to Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
Meanwhile, Ben Wallace has been re-appointed as Defence Secretary by Sunak.
Wallace was appointed Defence Secretary in July 2019 and retained his post in Liz Truss’ government. Today’s continuity was anticipated given he’s been leading the UK response to the war in Ukraine.
Suella Braverman has been re-appointed as Home Secretary, less than a week after she resigned from the same role in Truss’ cabinet.
She was appointed Home Secretary, one of the top jobs in government, in September when Truss became the new prime minister. But she resigned last Wednesday over a “mistake”.
In her resignation letter, she said she had sent an official document from her personal email address, breaking the ministerial code.
She also criticised Truss saying her government had “broken key pledges that were promised to voters”.
Braverman is back as the person responsible for overseeing UK borders, policing and counter-terrorism.
Meanwhile, Michael Gove has been confirmed as the levelling up secretary, the BBC reported.
Levelling up is a term used to described plans to close the gap between rich and poor parts of the country.
Gove has been an MP for Surrey Heath for almost 20 years.
The 55-year-old is an experienced cabinet minister and has held a number of prominent roles in government, including education secretary, justice secretary and – most recently – levelling up secretary under Boris Johnson.
However, he was sacked from that role in July, after urging Johnson to resign as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Indian-origin British minister Alok Sharma lost his Cabinet position in PM Sunak’s reshuffle.
Sunak is reshuffling his Cabinet after many of Truss’ ministers resigned or were sacked.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of Boris Johnson’s most loyal supporters, has resigned as Business Secretary while Brandon Lewis has stepped down as Justice Secretary.
James Cleverly has been re-appointed as Foreign Secretary, Downing Street said.
Cleverly was appointed Foreign Secretary by Liz Truss in September. He’s been an MP for Braintree in Essex since 2015.
Simon Hart has been appointed as the new chief whip in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, replacing Wendy Morton.
Hart has been the MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire since 2010 and served as Secretary of State for Wales under Boris Johnson between 2019 and 2022.
Nadhim Zahawi will remain in Cabinet, despite initially backing Boris Johnson in the leadership race.
He’s been made a minister without portfolio – which grants him a Cabinet position with no specific responsibilities – and also party chairman, replacing Jake Berry.
“Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed @Conservatives Party Chairman,” Conservative Party.
Oliver Dowden has been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Downing Street has confirmed.
Sunak officially became UK Prime Minister after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
In his first speech outside No 10, he said the UK was facing a “profound economic crisis” and vowed to earn the trust of Britons amid economic and political crises. (ANI)
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