- David Cameron has been ennobled and made Foreign Secretary.
- James Cleverly is the new Home Secretary after Suella Braverman’s sacking.
- Steve Barclay is now Environment Secretary, after Thérèse Coffey resigned from government.
- Victoria Atkins takes Barclay’s place as Health Secretary.
- Rachel Maclean has been sacked as housing minister and replaced by Lee Rowley.
- Esther McVey will be a Cabinet Office minister, reportedly with an ‘anti-woke’ brief.
- Rising stars Richard Holden and Laura Trott have been promoted to party chairman and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, respectively.
- A slew of junior ministers have resigned, including Will Quince, Neil O’Brien, Nick Gibb, Jesse Norman, Jeremy Quin and George Freeman.
- Andrea Jenkyns has submitted a letter of no confidence in Rishi Sunak.
6.07pm Steerpike: Andrea Jenkyns hasn’t taken Suella’s sacking well. The MP has submitted a letter of no confidence in the ‘Machiavellian’ Rishi Sunak to 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady, writing that ‘enough is enough’, since ‘Suella… was the only person in the cabinet with the balls to speak the truth of the appalling state of our streets.’
Enough is enough, I have submitted my vote of no confidence letter to the Chairman of the 1922. It is time for Rishi Sunak to go and replace him with a 'real' Conservative party leader. pic.twitter.com/yJmGc14d75
— Andrea Jenkyns MP 🇬🇧 (@andreajenkyns) November 13, 2023
5.37pm Steerpike: It may have been seven years since David Cameron was last involved in frontline politics, but he’s certainly not forgotten the skill of politicking. Interviewed this evening by BBC political editor Chris Mason, Cameron managed to, er, dodge just about every question he was asked when it came to the Greensill scandal:
CM: The Treasury Select Committee accused you of a significant lack of judgment over your lobbying of ministers on behalf of the finance company, Greensill. Why should voters trust your judgment now?
DC: Well, the most important thing I’ve done since, since leaving office was to act as president of Alzheimer’s research… Today I resign from all of those things, from all of the businesses I’ve been helping and all the other things I’ve been doing, including being a professor at NYU. That all stops. I now have one job as Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, and I’m very proud to work with our Prime Minister to try and make sure our country can be as secure and as prosperous as possible.
Mason tried again, saying: ‘I noticed you ducked my question on Greensill.’ But Cameron wouldn’t budge:
‘I think all those things were dealt with by the Treasury Select Committee, by other inquiries at the time. And as far as I’m concerned, that is all dealt with and in the past. And I now have one job as Britain’s foreign secretary, as part of Rishi Sunak’s team, to try and make sure this country can be as secure and as prosperous in a difficult and dangerous world.’
Some expert dodging there…
4.55pm No. 10 comment on Suella sacking: The Prime Minister’s press secretary has commented on the sacking on Suella Braverman, saying:
‘I would say there were differences of style and it’s right that we can move forward now and focus on what matters to people… Our Prime Minister believes that collective responsibility is an important principle and therefore senior ministers speak with one voice. So you can take from that what you want… Clearly there were some issues around language. The Prime Minister reserves the right to change the team sheet around the time at which he sees fit.’
4.47pm Kate Andrews: The decision to sack Rachel Maclean as housing minster a few hours ago left the government in a tricky position: it was going to be difficult to fill the role with someone equally or more enthusiastic about shaking up the planning system. But it seems the government has done it. Lee Rowley MP returns to the post, having previously held the position for just a month in Liz Truss’s government last year.
There were many disappointments during that 49 days, and Rowley’s short stint in the post was one of them. He barely had time to settle into the role before he was replaced with Lucy Frazer. Rowley has been working as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety, but now steps back into the job: he’s the thirteenth housing minister, and now also the sixteenth housing minister, since 2010.
Rowley has been vocal about the housing crisis for years, and takes the perspective that any solution must include significant building projects. He’ll be able to match the Labour party’s rhetoric (if given the green light to do so) when it comes to the push to build more homes, even when there might be opposition or tension over developments. His appointment suggests the government may be gearing up to have that fight. Finally.
4.18pm Lee Rowley appointed Housing Minister. After a long wait, Rachel Maclean’s successor as housing minister has been announced: Lee Rowley, a 2019 intake MP who has been serving as a junior minister in the department for levelling up.
3.46pm Kate Andrews: What can be done to improve the health service between now and the election? That’s what Victoria Atkins will be under pressure to do, as she moves from her position as Financial Secretary to the Treasury to the role of Health Secretary.
After almost a year of repeated strikes within the NHS, it’s not surprising that the department has been shaken-up, and that Atkins — who is considered to be an ally to the prime minister — has been given a promotion. But she is also now in charge of the longest NHS England waiting list on record: reaching almost 7.8 million. Getting this waitlist falling remains one of the prime minister’s five pledges that he said he’d meet by the end of the year, but the numbers have only been heading in the wrong direction. The constant strikes are thought to have contributed to this rise, so if Atkins can keep the walkouts at bay, she may have some marginal success in slowing, or even slightly reducing, the waitlist.
But to get a serious grip on the numbers, which need to reduced by millions to even get back to (unacceptable) pre-pandemic levels, she would have to start considering more serious reform. It’s the kind of change ministers acknowledge is necessary in private, but are terrified to say in public. It’s unlikely No. 10 and Atkins will think this is the most politically savvy moment to start talking tough truths about the NHS. The trade-off to playing it safe politically, of course, is that waitlist numbers stay catastrophically high.
3.17pm Glen and Hands moved: After being replaced as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen has been appointed Paymaster General and minister for the Cabinet Office. He replaces Jeremy Quin, who announced his resignation today. Meanwhile, Greg Hands, who was replaced as party chairman by 2019 intake MP Richard Holden, has been made a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade. Hands will have plenty of experience to draw on in his new role: this will be the fourth time he has served as a trade minister in his political career.
2.57pm Kate Andrews: Sunak’s shake-up in the Treasury is not likely to move the ideological dial much. Like outgoing Chief Secretary John Glen, Laura Trott is on board with Rishi Sunak’s economic vision. Previously the pensions minister, she liked to take a wonkish approach to the role, and was very interested in the details of public policy. Both Glen and Trott support the prime minister’s fiscally hawkish approach to the public finances, prioritising making the numbers add up and getting inflation under control. Moving Trott into the Treasury just over a week away from the Autumn Statement is not exactly perfect timing, but made easier by the job going to someone who has long agreed with the government’s approach to the coffers and economy.
2.38pm Katy Balls: The Cameron comeback continues. As David Cameron returns to the Cabinet table as Foreign Secretary, his former adviser Laura Trott is set to join him there. The Sevenoaks MP – who entered parliament in 2019 – has been appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Notably Trott was one of a handful of ministers to publicly distance themselves from comments by Suella Braverman – suggesting she would not describe pro-Palestine protests as ‘hate marches’. Trott is one of a number of so-called rising stars who have won praise from Downing Street for their willingness to go out on the media and defend the government.
2.31pm Katy Balls: Rishi Sunak has appointed a new party chairman: Richard Holden. The 2019-er MP was one of the surprise victors at the last election – ousting the Corbynite labour MP Laura Pidcock from her Durham seat. It’s a big promotion for Holden – previously a transport minister – but he has plenty of CCHQ experience having worked there under the Cameron government. While Holden worked on the 2019 Boris leadership campaign, he has since become a Sunak loyalist, supporting him in both leadership campaigns. Holden’s main task will be to fire up CCHQ to be campaign ready ahead of next year’s election – there has been a lot of grumbling in recent months about the party machine in relation to by-election campaigns.
2.27pm Victoria Atkins made Secretary of State for Health. Atkins replaces Steve Barclay in the Health Department, after previously serving as Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
2.15pm Katy Balls: Steve Barclay is the new environment secretary, moving from the department of health. It was no great secret that No. 10 were unsure about keeping Barclay in the health brief – with reports of tensions. While his new brief is technically a demotion, it is still a key area for the Tories at the next election. The party has taken a beating over river sewage – an area both the Lib Dems and Labour have gone on the attack over. It will be Barclay’s task to try to neutralise this issue ahead of the next election.
2.12pm Lucy Dunn: Steve Barclay has been moved from health secretary to take on the environment brief. Only last month he unveiled new plans for tackling the crisis in the NHS. During his time in the role, he oversaw seven junior doctors’ strikes, including two coordinated strikes between juniors and their consultants. Over one million appointments have been affected as a result and, just last week, the news came that the NHS waiting list had hit a record high again — at 7.8 million waits. It was bad news for Sunak who, since his January pledge to cut NHS waiting lists, saw them continue to rise under Barclay. Whoever gets his brief will have their work cut out retaining Britain’s medics and tackling wait times.
1.57pm James Heale: Another junior minister heads for the exit. Jeremy Quin has today handed in his notice as Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office. In this capacity, he earned a reputation as ‘Minister for Sticky Wickets’, often coming to the House to answer a particularly difficult Urgent Question. In his resignation letter, Quin says he wants to focus on constituency ‘projects in Horsham’, bringing an end to five years of continuous service under four different leaders. It frees up another post for Sunak to fill as he seeks to placate his ambitious MPs from some of the newer intakes.
1.35pm Steerpike: Former Levelling Up minister Simon Clarke seems to have some advice for Rishi Sunak. Commenting on Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave Raheem Stirling out of the latest England squad, Clarke has suggested that:
‘Some controversial choices here from the manager, putting it very mildly. Never wise to lack options on the right wing – the squad risks being badly unbalanced.’
Not sure we need GCHQ on hand to decode that one…
1.16pm Kate Andrews: The Tory party’s housing problem has got a lot worse since the Labour party decided to go full YIMBY (Yes in my back yard). Keir Starmer’s party conference speech, in which he pledged to look at parts of the not-so-green greenbelt to build on, drew a clear distinction between the two parties on the issue of a chronic undersupply of homes. Pressure has been building on the Tories since to come up with a response.
Rishi Sunak may think there’s an opportunity to reshape the debate by appointing a new housing minister, but Rachel Maclean is an avid pro-house building MP. Years back she was one of the MPs involved with the Institute of Economic Affairs’s FREER project, through which she would speak out about the younger generations and how to get them enthusiastic about capitalism (the answer: give them some stake in the game). When she finally became housing minister, she put words into action, particularly on reforms to the rental market.
Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has already tweeted out her regret that Maclean is set to go. Sunak may be getting ready to appoint a new minister as enthusiastic about building as Maclean, but she sets a high bar.
Very sorry to see you leave government, @redditchrachel. You were an excellent, minister, always attentive to MPs and their constituents and got some very tricky legislation over the line! https://t.co/Sr8GLcOi0W
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) November 13, 2023
12.56pm Fraser Nelson Thérèse Coffey is out of the Cabinet after an eight-year run in government. At one stage she was Deputy Prime Minister to Liz Truss and Health Secretary – two mammoth jobs which she agreed to do out of loyalty to a friend she knew needed her. She ran the DWP during lockdown and successfully managed a huge influx of people on to benefits, but the problem lay in moving them back to work. As Environment Secretary she ended up in battles over river sewage, which may have ended her career. Jesse Norman was campaigning on this, so if that was the concern I’m surprised he has quit government (again) rather than move to a brief that he’s quite passionate about. Coffey had been expected to be moved to another government job given that she was invited into No. 10 this morning: usually, sacking is done via a phone call and not in person. But this is not a usual reshuffle.
12.48pm James Heale: Rachel Maclean is out as Housing Minister – much to her obvious disappointment. On Twitter/X she writes that she is ‘disappointed’ to have ‘been asked to step down from my role as Housing Minister’ having expected to introduce the Renters Reform Bill to Committee tomorrow. Her successor will become the sixteenth housing minister since 2010 and the seventh in the last two years alone. Will the next one last until the election?
12.44pm Fraser Nelson: The quiet resignation of Neil O’Brien as Health Minister strikes me as significant. Bright and energetic, this former think tank chief and Treasury civil servant should have been on a glidepath for Cabinet. But instead he has just walked away, perhaps a sign of his frustration with Sunak’s government or perhaps he thinks the Tories are heading for defeat. I have been a big admirer of O’Brien for most of his time in Westminster (although we ended up on opposite sides of the lockdown debate) and see his departure as part of a trend with other resignations of junior, talented people. Alongside Cameron’s exhumation, this risks creating a narrative of a party enlisting retirees and losing its younger talent. Current polls indicate the Tories will save just 133 of their 350 seats. Perhaps younger MPs are reading these runes and jumping now.
12.39pm Rachel Maclean has been sacked as housing minister. She was the fifteenth housing minister since 2010. She writes:
I’ve been asked to step down from my role as Housing Minister. Disappointed and was looking forward to introducing the Renters Reform Bill to Committee tomorrow and later the Leasehold and Freehold Bill. It has been a privilege to hold the position and I wish my successor well.
11.59am Kate Andrews: Was there really not a single MP who Rishi Sunak could have appointed Foreign Secretary? Out of the 350 Tories in Parliament, surly there is one who could do the job?
It’s a question MPs are already asking — but soon voters might, too. Polling currently suggests that Tory MPs with majorities of even 10,000 risk a wipe out in the next election. The Conservatives will be fighting tooth and nail next year to get these MPs re-eleted. But what will the message be: that as talented as the government thinks they are, not a single one could take on the role of representing the UK on the world stage? This isn’t the case — but what else should the public conclude?
11.58am Fraser Nelson: Two big victors in this reshuffle: Oxford PPE grads and Britain’s great private schools. Of the four great offices of state, three are now are held by PPE graduates: Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron. Educated at Winchester, Charterhouse and Eton respectively. They will be shocked – shocked! – at this in the Scottish parliament where the SNP leader (Humza Yousaf) and Scottish Labour leader (Anas Sarwar) both went to the same elite private school (Hutchesons’ Grammar). It’s a good subject to be discussed on the BBC’s Newscast by Adam Fleming (a former Hutchie) and Laura Kuenssberg (whose school was later absorbed by Hutchesons’). Needless to say, a Dollar Academy alumnus, I’m shocked by all this. The Cameron school reforms should make such line-ups less likely in future but for now, it’s quite funny.
11.28am Katy Balls: Rishi Sunak has managed to grab the attention of Westminster by sacking Suella Braverman and bringing David Cameron back into government. But the reshuffle is far from over. I understand Sunak is now in the sackings stage, meeting with ministers that he plans to let go – so he can make way for new faces (or in the case of Cameron, old faces). This is the part where reshuffles can often be thrown off course as ministers refuse to accept their fate – or argue for a new brief.
11.22am James Heale: Lost in the excitement around Braverman and Cameron are changes on the lower ranks of the ministerial ladder. Will Quince leaves the health department, having already signalled that he is standing down at the next election. Jesse Norman and Neil O’Brien, two of the party’s brightest thinkers, also quit their respective berths at transport and health. But it is the departure of veteran Nick Gibb which will prompt most comment. In his on-and-off decade at the Department for Education, Gibb has won deserved plaudits for his work in raising school standards. In May this year, primary school children in England were ranked fourth in the international rankings for reading – a testament to the reforms which Gibb and others have overseen.
11.15am Theresa May congratulates Cameron:
‘Congratulations to David Cameron on his return to government. His immense experience on the international stage will be invaluable at this time of great uncertainty in our world. Looking forward to working together again!’
11.12am Steerpike: Rishi Sunak was never going to please everyone by sacking Suella Braverman. Now the first MPs are beginning to crawl out of the woodwork to proclaim Braverman true defender of the Tory faith and, while they’re at it, stick it to the Prime Minister. Read the full list of MPs criticising Sunak’s decision here.
11.08am Kate Andrews: At the start of 2010, five months before David Cameron entered Downing Street, the then-Tory leader introduced the idea of reducing legal immigration to ‘tens of thousands’ of people a year, rather than hundreds of thousands. More than 13 years on, Cameron finds himself back in the cabinet, to fill in the gaps formed by yet more trouble in the Home Office.
The new Home Secretary, James Cleverly, will have very little room to manoeuvre on policy. The government has pinned almost all its hopes (including its prospects at the next election) on its contested immigration policy — and the Supreme Court ruling that will decide if politicians can deport both asylum seekers and undocumented migrants to Rwanda. The government won’t be backing down from this position. But what about its broader view of immigration? Cameron’s idea of dramatically reducing numbers seemed to stick, with Suella Braverman recommitting her department to this earlier this year (Rishi Sunak declined to give a specific figure). But not only have the Tories failed to deliver on that pledge, net migration has soared in that time to over 600,000 a year.
Of course, the surge is accounted for by the addition of doctors, nurses and workers on the occupational shortages list, not to mention the refugees that Britons have overwhelmingly supported taking in. As Cameron makes waves by returning to government, it’s worth reflecting on a theoretical pledge started under his premiership that the Tories have never been able to — and arguably never should — achieve. If Cleverly has any scope to make change, might it be this attitude towards numbers, that has only ever set the Tories up to fail?
10.46am Patrick O’Flynn: Rishi Sunak’s decision to appoint David Cameron as Foreign Secretary shows that the boarding school boys are back in charge and the possibility of the Conservative party embracing conservatism is at an end. The Tories will go back to battling for the Centrist Dad vote, which may help them hang on to a few more Blue Wall seats in the Home Counties. But the Red Wall, and those who backed Boris Johnson’s 2019 pitch, will return to Labour on the back of mass abstentions or votes for the Reform party.
Read more here.
10.40am Steerpike: Cometh the hour, cometh the Hancock. With the understatement that is his wont, the former Health Secretary has taken to Twitter/X to hail the return of his onetime patron:
‘Brilliant decision by the PM to make @David_Cameron #ForeignSecretary. Superb for 🇬🇧 – bringing his experience to guide us through difficult times. Excellent for the @Conservatives, showing @RishiSunak will fight the election on the centre ground. Bravo 👏🏻’.
Gizza job eh Rish?
10.36am Cindy Yu: David Cameron’s flagship foreign policy when he was prime minister was ushering in the ‘golden era’ with China, where he and Osborne thought Britain could be China’s best friend in the West. Back in 2015, that already looked ill-thought-out – it was clear that Xi Jinping was not the reformer that some hoped he would be. As General Secretary of the Chinese Communist party, Xi Jinping had already purged his own party of political enemies as part of his anti-corruption drive and was assertively increasing China’s presence in the disputed South China Sea. In the years since, with the crackdown on Hong Kong, the oppression of Xinjiang, and the pandemic, it looks clearer than ever that David Cameron misjudged China. And yet, after leaving government, Cameron continued to lobby for China-linked projects (for example in Sri Lanka).
As Foreign Secretary, Cameron will hardly be able to freelance on foreign policy (especially on China) and bring back the golden era, but there are now valid questions to be asked over the Foreign Secretary’s geopolitical judgment.
10.30am James Heale: Out of ideas and out of time: that’s Labour’s response to this reshuffle. ‘A few weeks ago, Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo, now he’s bringing him back as his life raft’, said Pat McFadden, the party’s National Campaign Co-ordinator. Darren Jones, shadow Treasury spokesman, went further, declaring that he is ‘pleased’ about Cameron’s return: ‘When I ran the Business Committee he was always too busy to answer our questions. All we wanted to understand was why he was privately lobbying ministers for public cash for the (allegedly) fraudulent Greensill Capital whose payroll he was on.’
This highlights a theme Labour will emphasise in the coming weeks: the Tories will never change.
10.27am David Cameron has released a statement after becoming Foreign Secretary:
The Prime Minister has asked me to serve as his Foreign Secretary and I have gladly accepted.
We are facing a daunting set of international challenges, including the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. At this time of profound global change, it has rarely been more important for this country to stand by our allies, strengthen our partnerships and make sure our voice is heard.
While I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience – as Conservative Leader for eleven years and Prime Minister for six – will assist me in helping the Prime Minister to meet these vital challenges.
Britain is a truly international country. Our people live all over the world and our businesses trade in every corner of the globe. Working to help ensure stability and security on the global stage is both essential and squarely in our national interest. International security is vital for our domestic security.
Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable Prime Minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time. I want to help him to deliver the security and prosperity our country needs and be part of the strongest possible team that serves the United Kingdom and that can be presented to the country when the General Election is held.
I believe in public service. That is what first motivated me to get involved in politics in the 1980s, to work in government in the 1990s, become a Member of Parliament in the 2000s and put myself forward as Party Leader and Prime Minister.
The UK’s Foreign Office, our Diplomatic Service, our Intelligence Services and our Aid and Development capabilities are some of the finest assets of their kind anywhere in the world. I know from my time in office that they are staffed by brilliant, patriotic and hard-working people. They have been well led by James Cleverly, with whom I look forward to working in his vital new role.
It will be an honour to serve our country alongside our dedicated FCDO staff and provide the continued leadership and support that they deserve.
10.10am Katy Balls: In the wildest plot change of the reshuffle to date, the former prime minister returns to frontline politics with the Foreign Office brief. The argument that will be made in his favour is that serious times call for a serious experienced figure. Cameron has that from his time in Downing Street. Yet this is still a controversial appointment. It was only a month or so ago that Rishi Sunak was declaring himself the change candidate – going against decades of bad decision making. And Cameron was criticising the PM’s Tory conference speech, saying Sunak was wrong on HS2. What’s changed?
Then there’s the issue of party management: plenty of MPs would have liked the role and not required a peerage to take it.
Finally, what about the direction of foreign policy? Cameron has a chequered history here if you look at Libya. His appointment will also worry the China hawks given his government presided over the ‘golden era’ of closer relations with Beijing.
10am Katy Balls: Rishi Sunak is only in the early stages of his reshuffle but already there is plenty of debate within the Tory party. A handful of MPs on the right have begun to voice some concern over Braverman’s sacking. But more worrying to this group is what it means for the government’s small boats policy. The fear among these MPs is that the new Home Secretary James Cleverly has a more muted stance on the ECHR than Braverman. Combine that with the potential appointment of well known Remain-er David Cameron in the Foreign Office and the direction of the government could be changing. When the Supreme Court returns its verdict on Wednesday, the hope is that they will declare the scheme lawful – but government figures are braced for worse news. It means all eyes will be on how Sunak and his new Home Secretary respond.
9.45am James Heale: James Cleverly has just been confirmed as the new Home Secretary, opening a space at the Foreign Office. Following her sacking by Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman has also issued a short statement: ‘It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as Home Secretary. I will have more to say in due course.’ Given her past record, that’s an understatement to say the least.
9.40am Fraser Nelson: Why has David Cameron been invited into No. 10 on reshuffle day? Could he be back, as a Lord and a cabinet member? Just a few weeks ago, Rishi Sunak spoke of a ’30-year political status quo I am here to end’ – referring to Net Zero, HS2 and more. In this phrase, Sunak was lumping together (and defining himself against) Cameron, Blair, Johnson, Brown, May and Johnson. So is it possible he now ennobles Cameron and parachutes him into cabinet? Yes, but it would open Sunak to accusations of having no new ideas and just pumping out retreads.
9.35am Steerpike: Braverman was axed over concerns about her ability to stay on message. So, if the rumours about David Cameron making a cabinet return are true, there might be some awkwardness about Dave’s views on HS2. Following Sunak’s conference speech, his predecessor tweeted: ‘Today’s decision on HS2 is the wrong one. It will help to fuel the views of those who argue that we can no longer think or act for the long-term as a country; that we are heading in the wrong direction.’ Might make for some difficult conversations around the cabinet table…
9.15am Steerpike: Here we go: the first Tory MP has thrown their weight behind the now former Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Andrea Jenkyns, the Brexit-backing right winger, has taken to Twitter/X to declare: ‘I support @SuellaBraverman Sacked for speaking the truth. Bad call by Rishi caving in to the left!’ How many others will follow suit?
9.10am Steerpike: What is David Cameron doing in Downing Street? Given that he is presumably not about to be announcing the new junior Levelling Up minister, there is some speculation as to whether he is about to be given a cabinet job. The last ex-PM to serve in a successor’s administration was Alec Douglas-Home, who served as Foreign Secretary under Edward Heath. Could Cameron, a fellow Old Etonian, now be given that role too? Talk about a reshuffle twist.
Sky News’s Kay Burley, at least, was not expecting to see the former PM walking up to No.10. Here is the moment Cameron emerged from his car – and left Burley briefly speechless:
9.10am Katy Balls: If you thought the most surprising thing that could happen today is Sunak summoning the courage to sack Braverman, think again. David Cameron has just gone into No. 10 – through the front door. The former prime minister looks on the cusp of a surprising comeback. Nothing says change candidate like bringing back a former prime minister…
9.05am James Heale: The CCHQ Twitter account is already churning out graphics. ‘Reshuffle: Rishi Sunak strengthens his team’ is embossed over an image of the Prime Minister. It’s clear how No. 10 wants to frame today’s reshuffle: getting the government’s best performers into public-facing roles ahead of the expected election next year. If today’s CCHQ graphics are anything to go by, we can expect it to be a presidential campaign, contrasting the qualities of Sunak and his opposite number.
9am Katy Balls: As Suella Braverman exits Rishi Sunak’s government, it’s worth remembering how she got there in the first place. Braverman came out to endorse Sunak at a key point during the second leadership contest when Boris Johnson was attempting a comeback. Braverman’s support for Sunak was seen as a sign that the right of the party would get behind Sunak – and it wasn’t long after this that Johnson dropped out. Her appointment as Home Secretary – days after Liz Truss had axed her from the role over an email breach – was seen as the prize Braverman received as a result.
It follows that, until now, Braverman was seen as a necessary figure in the government for Tory unity and keeping the right on side. Over the weekend, 2019-er Miriam Cates defended Braverman while senior Tory John Hayes is reported to have trying to organise a show of support. The question is whether Braverman will become a figurehead for this group from the backbenches.
8.45am Katy Balls: Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle is underway and it has begun with the Prime Minister sacking his Home Secretary. A No. 10 source confirms that the PM has asked Suella Braverman to leave his government and she has accepted.
The view in Downing Street is that Braverman’s position had become untenable after she gave the Times newspaper an op-ed that had not been cleared by No. 10. However, there were still doubts over the weekend as to whether Sunak would choose to axe Braverman and risk a revolt on the right.
Ministers close to Sunak say Braverman’s influence on the right of the party is overstated – but we will soon find out. This is just the start of a crunch week for the PM with the Supreme Court delivering its verdict on whether the Rwanda scheme is lawful on Wednesday.
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