Theresa May’s Cabinet reshuffle: who’s in and who’s out
Choice of Jeremy Hunt to replace Boris Johnson as foreign secretary triggers claims that PM is running a ‘Remainer government’
Theresa May is preparing to face her newly reshuffled cabinet following the shock resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson.
With the Tories engulfed in “Brexit turmoil”, the Prime Minister has made “drastic” changes to her cabinet team and has warned her party that it must “unite or face the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn in power”, the BBC says.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been chosen to replace Boris Johnson as foreign secretary.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The appointment has led some senior Tory Eurosceptics to accuse May of running a “Remainer government”, with all four “great offices of state” - PM, chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary - now occupied by ministers who campaigned against Brexit during the 2016 referendum.
Hunt has since said he is a convert to the Brexit cause, but the sceptics remain unconvinced.
In his first public statement as foreign secretary, Hunt said he would be standing “four square” behind the prime minister “so that we can get through an agreement with the European Union based on what was agreed by the Cabinet last week at Chequers”.
Elsewhere, Matt Hancock has staged a “significant political comeback”, trading in his role as culture secretary to become the new health secretary, The Daily Telegraph reports. Hancock, a prominent backer of Remain during the EU referendum, had been “written off” by some in Westminster after May became PM, the newspaper adds.
Jeremy Wright, the former attorney general and another Remain campaigner, replaces Hancock as culture secretary, while Dominic Raab was announced as the new Brexit secretary yesterday morning. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Cox QC, MP for Torridge and West Devon, has secured his first cabinet post, as attorney general.
Here is May’s cabinet, with the new posts in bold:
- Theresa May, prime minister
- Philip Hammond, chancellor
- Jeremy Hunt, foreign secretary
- Sajid Javid, home secretary
- Dominic Raab, Brexit secretary
- David Mundell, secretary of state for Scotland
- Gavin Williamson, secretary of state for defence
- Baroness Evans, lord privy seal and leader of the House of Lords
- Michael Gove, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs
- Penny Mordaunt, secretary of state for international development
- Chris Grayling, secretary of state for transport
- Liam Fox, secretary of state for international trade and president of the Board of Trade
- Andrea Leadsom, lord president of the council and leader of the House of Commons
- Jeremy Wright, culture secretary
- Elizabeth Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury
- Julian Smith, parliamentary secretary to the Treasury (chief whip)
- Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy
- Karen Bradley, secretary of state for Northern Ireland
- David Gauke, justice secretary
- Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care
- James Brokenshire, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government
- Brandon Lewis, Tory party chairman
- David Lidington, minister for the Cabinet Office
- Caroline Noakes, minister of state for immigration
- Geoffrey Cox, attorney general
- Claire Perry, minister of state at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Esther Mcvey, secretary of state for work and pensions
- Damian Hinds, secretary of state for education
- Alun Cairns, secretary of state for Wales
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why are home insurance prices going up?
Today's Big Question Climate-driven weather events are raising insurers' costs
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
'All too often, we get caught up in tunnel vision'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
2024: the year of legacy media failures
In the Spotlight From election criticism to continued layoffs, the media has had it rough in 2024
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?
Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
By The Week UK Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published