Liz Truss has begun announcing her Cabinet after being elected leader of the Conservative Party.
Following her victory over Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister flew to Balmoral where she was formally invited by the Queen to form a government.
She is now confirming appointments to her top team and has already sacked three prominent Rishi Sunak supporters.
Kwasi Kwarteng
The former business secretary has been appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It is understood that he will be instructed to reverse the National Insurance increase as soon as is practically possible and to cancel the planned corporation tax rise.
Therese Coffey
Therese Coffey has been appointed as Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Coffey, who was previously the work and pensions secretary, is little known to the wider public but is one of Ms Truss’s closest friends in politics.
She helped run the Truss campaign and has held previous government roles in the whips office and the Environment Department after becoming an MP in 2010.
The move is likely to be framed in part as showing how important health reforms will be for the Truss government.
Bringing down NHS backlogs is one of her top policy priorities. It also means that it will be Ms Coffey who will likely face off against Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, at Prime Minister’s Questions when Ms Truss is away.
James Cleverly
James Cleverly has been appointed as Foreign Secretary.
Mr Cleverly is one of Ms Truss’s closest allies and worked with her in the Foreign Office as a junior minister.
Suella Braverman
Suella Braverman has been appointed as Home Secretary.
She was told by Ms Truss that she would be appointed to the role “absolutely ages ago”, according to a source familiar with discussions.
“Suella has been busy getting background briefings, reading think-tank reports – really getting to grips with it,” they said.
The source added that Ms Braverman, the former attorney general, had been promised a say over who her junior ministers might be.
“The junior ministers at the Home Office haven’t been turning up to the department – the place has basically been running without junior ministers for weeks.”
Wendy Morton
Wendy Morton has been appointed as the first Tory female Chief Whip.
Ms Morton, 54, who was elected as the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills in the West Midlands in 2015, is thought to be one of Ms Truss’s closest confidantes along with Ms Coffey.
She served as an assistant whip under Theresa May from 2018 to 2019, before being appointed a justice minister by Boris Johnson. In 2020, she moved to the Foreign Office before becoming transport minister last December.
Brandon Lewis
Brandon Lewis has been appointed as Justice Secretary.
Ben Wallace
Ben Wallace remains as Defence Secretary.
He has worked alongside Ms Truss on Britain’s response to the war in Ukraine.
Nadhim Zahawi
Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
He also has the roles of minister for intergovernmental relations and minister for equalities.
Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt, who came third in the Tory leadership race, has been appointed as Leader of the House of Commons.
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Jacob Rees-Mogg has been appointed a Business Secretary. He is a close ally of Ms Truss and has been working on her economic plan.
“It’s a fundamentally important role,” he told Sky News. “The energy crisis is at the absolute forefront of the Government’s agenda.
“We have to help businesses and individuals and a package will be brought forward shortly.”
On Ms Truss’s Government, he said: “The underlying philosophy will be the same, but Liz Truss is a different personality from Boris Johnson.
“Nobody fails to realise the size of the problem. It is an extraordinary problem.”
Simon Clarke
Simon Clarke, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, has been appointed as Levelling Up Secretary.
Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has been appointed as International Trade Secretary.
Chloe Smith
Chloe Smith has been appointed as Work and Pensions Secretary.
Kit Malthouse
Kit Malthouse has been appointed as Education Secretary.
Jake Berry
Jake Berry has been appointed minister without portfolio.
Alok Sharma
Alok Sharma retains his role in the Cabinet as President for COP26.
Alister Jack
Alister Jack will be reappointed as Scottish Secretary by Ms Truss, The Telegraph understands, meaning he will keep the brief he took up in 2019.
Mr Jack has been central to the UK Government’s attempts to counter the SNP’s push for a second independence referendum in 2023.
The news means disappointment for David Mundell, the former Scottish secretary who had been tipped for a return given his support for Ms Truss.
Mr Jack, who only became an MP in 2017, is close to Boris Johnson.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Anne-Marie Trevelyan is expected to be offered the job of Transport Secretary, The Telegraph has been told.
The Transport job is likely to be a difficult one, as the nation braces for further rail strikes this autumn.
Who’s out of the running?
George Eustice
George Eustice, the environment secretary, has been sacked.
He’s the fourth high-profile Rishi Sunak supporter to go tonight.
Greg Clark
Greg Clark, the Levelling Up Secretary, has been sacked after just eight weeks in the job.
He tweeted that he was proud of his achievements in that time.
Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer, the minister for veterans, who also attends Cabinet, has been sacked.
Mr Mercer has posted a lengthy statement online in which he says he has “found the burden of carrying the hopes and expectations of this Nation’s finest families… extremely lonely”.
He has been in office for almost two months.
“I have worked hard over the summer and will take some time out with my young family to consider my options,” he said.
