Having entered Downing Street for the first time as prime minister earlier today, details are emerging of Liz Truss’ first cabinet.
Amongst the main beneficiaries of the Truss premiership are a number of the new prime minister’s closest political friends and allies.
Kwarsi Kwarteng, who lives on the same south London street as Liz Truss and her husband, is set to become the UK’s new chancellor of the exchequer.
Truss’ former deputy at the foreign office, James Cleverly, is set to become the new foreign secretary. With the top tier of the government already being nick-named as the ‘Greenwich set’, Mr Cleverly also lives in close proximity to Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng in south east London.
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Meanwhile, Therese Coffey, Liz Truss’ campaign manager and one of her closest political friends, becomes health secretary and deputy prime minister. Truss and Coffey entered parliament together in 2010 and represent constituencies that are near each other in East Anglia.
In contrast, Truss has already fired a number cabinet ministers who voted for Rishi Sunak as her leader opponent. These include Dominic Raab (ex-Deputy Prime Minister), Steve Barclays (ex-Health Secretary) and Grant Shapps (ex-Transport Secretary).
Hinting at displeasure in his dismissal, Mr Shapps has already taken to Twitter to suggest he will be an “independent” voice from the backbenches.
Truss’s approach to ministerial appointments seems to mirror that of Boris Johnson in 2019. Johnson took a more radical approach to top ministerial appointments than forming a balanced team. He purge government of all those who had backed Hunt.
Suella Braverman will succeed Priti Patel in the role of Home Secretary, among other cabinet appointments. Braverman came sixth in the summer’s Conservative leadership election before transferring her backing to Liz Truss. Ms Braverman’s supporters played a critical role in helping Liz Truss to make it to the final stages of that contest. Braverman is a Conservative member and is expected to be a tough opponent of channel migrant crossings.
A complete list of Cabinet appointments will be made public later tonight. Liz Truss will also finalize appointments at the lower levels of government tomorrow.
