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Key events
Summary of appointments
Here’s the full list of cabinet appointments as things stand at the end of Liz Truss’s first day as prime minister.
The cabinet
Prime minister Liz Truss
Deputy prime minister and health secretary Thérèse Coffey
Chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng
Foreign secretary James Cleverly
Home secretary Suella Braverman QC
Defence secretary Ben Wallace
Justice secretary and lord chancellor Brandon Lewis
Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, minister for intergovernmental relations and minister for equalities Nadhim Zahawi
Leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the council Penny Mordaunt
Lord privy seal and leader of the House of Lords Lord True
Minister without portfolio and Conservative party chairman Jake Berry
Cop26 President Alok Sharma
Business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg
Levelling up, housing and communities Secretary Simon Clarke
International trade secretary and president of the board of trade Kemi Badenoch
Work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith
Education secretary Kit Malthouse
Environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena
Transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Culture secretary Michelle Donelan
Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris
Scotland secretary Alister Jack
Wales secretary Sir Robert Buckland QC
Attending cabinet
Parliamentary secretary to the Treasury (chief whip) Wendy Morton
Chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp
Attorney general Michael Ellis QC
Paymaster general and minister for the Cabinet Office Edward Argar
Minister for development at the Foreign Office Vicky Ford
Minister for security at the home department Tom Tugendhat
Minister for the armed forces and veterans at the Ministry of Defence James Heappey
Minister for climate at the business department Graham Stuart
Rees-Mogg will not take climate brief
Jacob Rees-Mogg will not take on the brief of minister for the climate, prompting speculation No 10 may have succumbed to pressure from green Tory MPs.
Graham Stuart has instead been appointed minister for the climate in the business department and will attend cabinet.
No 10 had originally planned to give Rees-Mogg the brief as part of his new role as business secretary, but is said to have faced opposition from MPs. Rees Mogg has also previously expressed scepticism about the scientific consensus on climate change and the UK’s net zero targets.
Cabinet will “unify the party”, says prime minister’s spokesperson
The prime minister’s spokesperson has said her cabinet will unify the Conservative Party and deliver for the country.
A statement released this evening read: “The prime minister has appointed a cabinet which represents the depth and breadth of talent in the Conservative Party.
“Containing no fewer than five other candidates from the recent leadership election, this is a cabinet which will unify the party, get our economy growing and deliver for the British people.”
Of the newly-appointed cabinet ministers, Penny Mordaunt, Nadhim Zahawi, Suella Braverman, and Kemi Badenoch were all candidates in the leadership contest. Tom Tugendhat, who also ran, will attend cabinet as minister for security.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who won the backing of 137 MPs before coming second to Truss in the members’ vote, does not feature, and nor do any of his supporters bar Michael Ellis, the new attorney general.
James Heappey reappointed as armed forces minister
James Heappey has been reappointed as minister for the armed forces in the ministry of defence and will attend cabinet.
He has previously served as parliamentary undersecretary for defence procurement and is himself a former soldier, serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He will also serve as minister for veterans, replacing Johnny Mercer, whose wife responded to his sacking earlier today by taking to Twitter to brand Liz Truss an “imbecile”.
On the night that Liz Truss names her first cabinet (including the ministers of state who will attend cabinet meetings) our data team Michael Goodier, Carmen Aguilar García and Pamela Duncan have been looking for patterns in the 30 positions to have been announced to date.
Revenge4Rishi backers! But true blue Boris supporters in the Cabinet fold
Revenge may be a dish best served cold but it didn’t take long for Truss to plate it up for Rishi Sunak’s allies.
Not only has Truss not given her main contender for leader a position in her newly announced candidate, but only two MPs who had publicly declared for Rishi Sunak during the campaign has made it into the front benches either (the reappointed Secretary for Wales, Robert Buckland, who then switched to Liz Truss later in the campaign and the new Attorney General Michael Ellis).
All those who have been selected for cabinet positions also either made public statements supporting Boris at the time of his confidence vote among Tory MPs, or didn’t declare their vote in public.
Diversity
It’s official: the UK’s four most important offices of state do not feature a white man for the first time in history. Indeed if there is one area the Truss cabinet excels on it is representation of ethnic minorities: close to a quarter of the 30 positions announced tonight are BAME, compared with a national estimate of 13.7%.
However, the cabinet of the UK’s third ever female prime minister falls short on gender diversity: just 35% of Truss’s frontbenchers are women, compared to 51% of the population.
Education
Of the 30 names that have been announced (including the Prime Minister), just 11 haven’t received a private education (37%).
Is in keeping with Boris Johnson’s 2021 cabinet reshuffle and actually slightly better than his first and second cabinets after his first cabinet was announced in mid-2019 (64% privately educated) and that of his February 2020 reshuffle (65%).
However the number of Truss-appointed ministers who attended an independent school is more than double that in Theresa May’s first cabinet (30%), higher than David Cameron’s 2015 cabinet in 2015 and similar to the cabinet of the Coalition government in 2010 (62%).
Tom Tugendhat appointed minister for security
Tom Tugendhat has been appointed minister for security in the Home Office and will attend cabinet.
He is currently chair of the foreign affairs select committee and also placed fifth in the Tory leadership race, winning the backing of 31 MPs.
Tugendhat was previously a soldier, completing tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has been a vocal supporter of the military aid the UK has sent to Ukraine.
Vicky Ford appointed minister of state for development
Vicky Ford has been appointed minister of state for development in the Foreign Office and will attend cabinet.
She has previously served as parliamentary undersecretary of state for Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Edward Argar appointed paymaster general
Edward Argar has been appointed paymaster general and minister for the Cabinet Office.
He has previously served as minister for health and parliamentary undersecretary of state for justice.
Truss reiterates “steadfast support for Ukraine’s freedom”
Liz Truss has said she reiterated the UK’s “steadfast support for Ukraine’s freedom and democracy” is a call this evening with President Zelenskiy.
“Russia’s attempts to weaponise energy must not deter the West,” she said. “Ukraine can depend on the UK for support in the long term.”
Michael Ellis appointed attorney general
Michael Ellis has been appointed attorney general, a step up from his two current roles as minister for the Cabinet Office and paymaster general.
He has previously served as socilitor general, transport minister, and deputy leader of the Commons.
Ellis has represented Northampton North since 2010. He opposed Brexit before the referendum and later supported the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May.
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