BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak hailed his “strong and united team” at his first Cabinet meeting following the dramatic reshuffle that saw David Cameron appointed Foreign Secretary and former home secretary Suella Braverman sacked.
The reshuffle, which has angered some on the Tory right, has seen Sunak loyalists appointed to senior posts as the Prime Minister bids to revive his electoral fortunes.
Surrounded by a new-look Cabinet following the sacking of Braverman, Sunak promised “big, bold decisions that will drive change”.
With Cameron attending his first Cabinet since his resignation as Prime Minister in 2016, Sunak offered a “warm welcome to those for whom it’s their first Cabinet and also a welcome to those for whom it may not be their first time”.
Sunak said: “Our purpose is nothing less than to make the long-term decisions that are going to change our country for the better.
“I know that this strong and united team is going to deliver that change for everybody.”
Sunak faces a crunch week ahead, with new inflation figures and the Supreme Court’s Rwanda ruling expected on Wednesday.
The ruling by top judges on the landmark Tory policy to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel will be a key moment in Sunak’s premiership.
The ousted Braverman, a vocal champion for the scheme who warned yesterday that she will have “more to say in due course”, could add to pressure by championing leaving the European Court of Human Rights if the Government loses the appeal.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will also deliver his autumn statement next week.
The reshuffle is designed to prepare the Tories for the next general election, but it has also risked inflaming the rift in the Conservative Party.
Former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns submitted a furious letter of no confidence in Sunak to the Tory backbench 1922 Committee as a result of the decision.
Deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson was among hardline MPs at a Commons meeting where concerns were shared about Braverman’s ousting after she accused the police of bias.
Conservative former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the reshuffle would not help the Tories win the next election, suggesting it will benefit the Reform party founded by Nigel Farage.
New party chairman Richard Holden sought to play down tensions today, stressing the need to focus on the UK Labour opposition and pitching his party as a “broad church”.
“What we don’t do is have small splinter parties ahead of a general election and then a deal cooked up behind the scenes,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“What you see is a broad church, Conservative Party with a common goal, united together in what it is deciding to put forward to the country.”
Holden, elected in 2019 for the so-called red wall seat of North West Durham, replaced Greg Hands following a string of by-election losses and a mauling in council contests during his nine months in charge.
James Cleverly was made Home Secretary as he was moved from the Foreign Office to make way for Cameron, while promotions included Victoria Atkins to Health Secretary and Laura Trott to Treasury Chief Secretary.
In a conciliatory move to the Tory right, GB News presenter and former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey was brought back into Government as a minister without portfolio.
The return of Cameron, who quit Number 10 after his defeat in the Brexit referendum seven years ago, came as a massive shock in Westminster.
But past views, including his closeness with China, have come under renewed scrutiny.
He has also been critical of Sunak’s scrapping of the northern leg of HS2 during a conference speech in which the Prime Minister distanced himself from the legacy of his predecessors.
Cameron also faces questions over the Greensill affair, in which he privately lobbied ministers in an attempt to win Greensill Capital access to an emergency coronavirus loan scheme.
The Commons Treasury Committee said the former PM displayed a “significant lack of judgment” but cleared him of breaching lobbying rules.
Cameron, in his first interview since taking up the Cabinet role, said the row was “in the past” and that he had quit all roles upon entering government.
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