Theresa May shakes-up government with new-look cabinet

  15 July 2016    Read: 1895
Theresa May shakes-up government with new-look cabinet
Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled a nearly completely new look cabinet, in a major departure from predecessor David Cameron`s top team.
George Osborne, Michael Gove, John Whittingdale, Nicky Morgan and Oliver Letwin have all been sacked by Mrs May.

Liz Truss is justice secretary, Justine Greening takes education and Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has been promoted to environment secretary.

Boris Johnson became foreign secretary. Philip Hammond was made chancellor.

Eurosceptic David Davis, meanwhile, will take charge of negotiating Britain`s exit from the European Union, in a newly created post of Brexit secretary.

And in another new post announced on Wednesday, Liam Fox has been appointed as the new international trade secretary.

Just four cabinet positions have stayed in the same hands: Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns and Scottish Secretary David Mundell.

Amber Rudd - formerly the energy secretary - took over Mrs May`s former role as home secretary.

There were some big promotions for Home Office ministers James Brokenshire and Karen Bradley, who were appointed Northern Ireland secretary and culture, media and sport secretary, respectively.

Damian Green, a former justice and Home Office minister, was elevated to work and pensions secretary, while Brexit campaigner and ex-work and pensions minister Priti Patel was promoted to international development secretary.

There were also some resignations. Tory leadership contender and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb stepped down from government "in the best interests of my family", while Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers resigned after turning down the offer of another role.

In other developments:

Patrick McLoughlin was moved from transport secretary to Conservative Party chairman

Sajid Javid - formerly business secretary - is now the communities and local government secretary

Chris Grayling - who was Mrs May`s leadership campaign chief - takes up the post of transport secretary. He was previously Commons leader

Baroness Evans has taken up the post of Leader of the House of Lords

Former policing and justice minister Damian Green becomes work and pensions secretary - replacing Stephen Crabb who resigned

Attorney General Jeremy Wright - who attends cabinet - stayed in his post

Gavin Williamson, a former parliamentary private secretary to David Cameron, was appointed government chief whip

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills becomes the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department - led by Greg Clark, formerly communities and local government secretary

As a result, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has been scrapped, its brief folded into BEIS

The Department for Education will take on higher and further education, skills and apprenticeships, bringing it together so there is a comprehensive end-to-end view of skills and education

Justice Secretary Michael Gove - who was one of the leading figures in the campaign to leave the EU and a Tory leadership contender - was the first to be sacked on Thursday morning, losing his job to Ms Truss- the first female Lord Chancellor in the near 1,000-year history of the role.

Ms Greening`s department is to also take on higher and further education, skills and apprenticeships. Ms Greening said she was "absolutely delighted" at her appointment.

Earlier, the new chancellor, Mr Hammond, said there would be "no emergency Budget" when asked about his first priorities as chancellor.

His predecessor George Osborne warned during the EU referendum campaign that he would have to cut public spending and increase taxes in an emergency Budget if there was a vote for Brexit.

Mr Hammond said he would make "carefully considered decisions over the summer", followed by an Autumn Statement "in the normal way".

In a move that surprised the political world, Mrs May put Mr Johnson - one of the most prominent figures of the campaign to leave the EU - in charge of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mr Johnson, who has said he was "very humbled" and "very proud" at the appointment, is no stranger to controversy - or gaffes - on the international stage.

During the EU referendum campaign, he drew criticism for comments he made about US President Barack Obama, who he said had an "ancestral dislike" of the UK because of his "part-Kenyan" heritage.

In 2015, Mr Johnson had to cancel planned public events in the West Bank because of security fears after he criticised backers of a boycott on Israeli goods, and he has previously described Hilary Clinton - US presidential hopeful - as having "a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital".

The cabinet appointment throws Mr Johnson a lifeline after a turbulent couple of weeks which saw his Tory leadership bid torpedoed by fellow Brexit campaigner Mr Gove.

In his first comments since taking up the post, Mr Johnson set out his vision for Britain to be a more "global player", and he said Brexit did not mean the UK was leaving Europe.

However, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron predicted the new foreign secretary would "spend more time apologising to nations he`s offended" than carrying out the job.

The chancellor also told Today the UK economy was entering "a new phase" because of the vote to leave the EU, which he said had had a "chilling" short-term effect on the economy.

"It has shaken confidence and caused many businesses to pause investment decisions that they were making," he said.

He said the government now needed to "send signals of reassurance about the future as quickly and as powerful as we can".

The chancellor also said he believed in the need to reduce the deficit further, but that the government must look again at "how and at when and at what pace", in the light of the new circumstances faced by the economy.

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