LONDON: Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday retained several senior ministers from predecessor Liz Truss’s top team, including Jeremy Hunt as finance minister, as he bids for a stable transition.
Sunak, 42, kept James Cleverly as foreign secretary and Ben Wallace in defence, despite them both backing an aborted comeback by ex-leader Boris Johnson.
In an astonishing return just days after she quit Truss’s cabinet, he re-appointed hardline right-winger Suella Braverman as interior minister, in charge of policing and immigration control.
Sunak also kept his most recent leadership rival Penny Mordaunt, who withdrew from the race Monday after failing to secure enough Tory MPs’ support, as Leader of the House of Commons.
The role – which oversees government business in parliament – is neither a promotion nor demotion, but may disappoint Mordaunt, who had been tipped for more senior roles such as foreign secretary.
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The appointments appear aimed at signalling continuity in top portfolios after the dramatic upheavals seen under Truss.
Grant Shapps, a longtime Johnson loyalist who had briefly replaced Braverman at the interior ministry and backed Sunak in the latest leadership contest, was named business secretary.
The role involves partial oversight of climate policy.
Shapps replaced Johnson’s close ally Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was one of at least 10 ministers to leave the cabinet under Sunak’s new rule.
Other appointments included Simon Hart as chief whip in charge of party discipline in the House of Commons, which unravelled under Truss and threw government business into disarray.
Oliver Dowden was named chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, making him a key troubleshooter across cabinet departments.
Nadhim Zahawi became a minister without portfolio, while also reportedly being appointed chairman of the Conservative Party.
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