The shock return of Suella Braverman as home secretary has undermined Rishi Sunak’s promise to lead a government with “integrity” on his first day in No 10.
In a dramatic reshuffle of Liz Truss’s cabinet, the new prime cleared out nine ministers – including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Brandon Lewis – but, as expected, retained Jeremy Hunt as chancellor.
Dominic Raab returns to the post of deputy prime minister and justice secretary, while James Cleverly clings on to the Foreign Office, despite backing Boris Johnson for the premiership.
Penny Mordaunt was punished for challenging the Tory leadership favourite by being denied a promotion and remains the Commons Leader.
But Mr Sunak’s most significant move was to bring back the home secretary sacked – just six days ago – for a security breach that broke the ministerial code, in apparent payback for Ms Braverman backing his campaign.
The arch right-winger admitted breaching the rules by sending a policy document on an immigration shake-up from her private email to a colleague, allegedly misleading Ms Truss about it.
Just hours earlier, Mr Sunak, speaking outside No 10, had promised the country: “This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. Trust is earned. And I will earn yours.”
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “Just a few hours into the job and Rishi Sunak is already putting party before country.”
Ms Braverman had left office “for breaches of the ministerial code, security lapses, sending sensitive government information through unauthorised personal channels, and following weeks of non-stop public disagreements with other cabinet ministers”, she said.
And the campaign group Freedom From Torture said: “Rishi Sunak promised a fresh start from the huge mistakes made by Liz Truss during her short time in office.
“His decision to bring Braverman back as home secretary, less than a week after she resigned for breaching the ministerial code, suggests he intends to repeat them.”
The move also sets up a repeat clash if Mr Sunak – like Ms Truss – seeks to loosen immigration rules to boost the economy, the root of the bust-up triggering last week’s dismissal.
The appointments saw Steve Barclay return to the health brief, as Therese Coffey was demoted to environment secretary and lost the deputy prime minister’s badge.
Gillian Keegan became the fifth education secretary in a whirlwind year for the department – a state of upheaval widely criticised as hugely disrupting for schools and colleges.
Alok Sharma will no longer attend cabinet – and is no longer a minister – but remains as Cop26 president and the UK’s negotiator at next month’s Cop27 summit in Egypt.
Earlier, Mr Sunak’s clearout dismissed nine cabinet ministers – and a further two ministers attending cabinet – most of them high-profile supporters of the outgoing prime minister.
They were: Mr Rees-Mogg (business secretary), Kit Malthouse (education), Mr Lewis (justice), Simon Clarke (levelling up), Chloe Smith (work and pensions), Ranil Jayawardena (environment), Robert Buckland (Wales), Jake Berry (party chair) and Wendy Morton (chief whip).
Outside No 10, Mr Sunak had paid “tribute” to Ms Truss, saying: “She was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country.
“It is a noble aim, and I admired her restlessness to create change, but some mistakes were made.”
And he told the public: “I will always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible achievements as prime minister and I treasure his warmth and generosity of spirit.”
