Liz Truss announces first Cabinet as UK's new prime minister

It was hoped a 'unity Cabinet' might have ended bitter infighting witnessed during Boris Johnson years

Liz Truss and her new team congregate round the cabinet table. AP

Special adviser Sophie Jarvis arrives for new British Prime Minister Liz Truss's first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Wednesday. Ms Truss has made sweeping changes to the UK government after becoming leader on Tuesday.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AFP

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Getty Images

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, front, arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AP

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Reuters

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ranil Jayawardena arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AP

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary Therese Coffey arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Reuters

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Reuters

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Getty Images

Home Secretary Suella Braverman arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. Reuters

Attorney General Michael arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AP

Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AP

Education Secretary Kit Malthouse arrives for the new Cabinet meeting. AP

Kwasi Kwarteng has been appointed chancellor of the exchequer. Reuters

Therese Coffey has been appointed deputy prime minister and health secretary. EPA

James Cleverly has been appointed foreign secretary. PA

Suella Braverman has been appointed home secretary. AFP

Brandon Lewis has been appointed lord chancellor and justice secretary. PA

Ben Wallace has been reappointed defence secretary. Reuters

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been appointed secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. PA

Kemi Badenoch has been appointed international trade secretary and president of the Board of Trade. PA

Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Reuters

Alok Sharma has been reappointed as Cop26 president. EPA

Simon Clarke has been appointed secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities. EPA

Chloe Smith has been appointed work and pensions secretary. PA

Michelle Donelan has been appointed secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport. AFP

Penny Mordaunt has been appointed leader of the House of Commons. PA

Ranil Jayawardena has been appointed secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs. Alamy

Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been appointed transport secretary. Bloomberg.

Wendy Morton has been appointed chief whip. Bloomberg

Chris Heaton-Harris has been appointed Northern Ireland secretary. AFP

Robert Buckland has been reappointed as Welsh secretary. PA

Alister Jack has been reappointed Scottish secretary. PA

Michael Ellis QC has been appointed attorney general and will attend Cabinet. AFP

Tom Tugendhat will attend Cabinet as security minister in the Home Office. PA

British Prime Minister Liz Truss has named her new Cabinet in a reshuffle that instantly put pressure on calls for Conservative unity.

Several of leadership rival Rishi Sunak's supporters were sacked, including Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, George Eustice and Steve Barclay.

The prime minister’s closest supporters got the greatest rewards, with Kwasi Kwarteng, James Cleverly and Suella Braverman becoming chancellor, foreign secretary and home secretary, respectively.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey — regarded as Ms Truss’s closest confidante at Westminster — is the new health secretary and deputy prime minister.

Who is in Liz Truss' Cabinet?

Brandon Lewis has been appointed Lord Chancellor and justice secretary.

Ben Wallace has been re-appointed as defence secretary, Downing Street said.

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been appointed secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

Simon Clarke becomes secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.

Kemi Badenoch has been appointed as international trade secretary and president of the Board of Trade.

Chloe Smith has been appointed work and pensions secretary.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan becomes transport secretary.

Kit Malthouse becomes education secretary.

Michael Ellis QC has been appointed attorney general and will attend Cabinet.

Tom Tugendhat will attend Cabinet as security minister in the Home Office.

Alok Sharma has also been re-appointed as Cop26 president.

Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, minister for intergovernmental relations and minister for equalities.

Michelle Donelan becomes secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport.

Chris Heaton-Harris has been appointed as Northern Ireland secretary.

Alister Jack has been re-appointed as Scottish secretary.

Robert Buckland has been re-appointed as Welsh secretary.

Penny Mordaunt has been appointed leader of the House of Commons.

Ranil Jayawardena becomes secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

Ms Truss also appointed Wendy Morton as chief whip, Downing Street said.

Lord True has been appointed leader of the House of Lords.

Chris Philp will attend Cabinet as chief secretary to the Treasury.

Political observers suggested it was not the potential “unity Cabinet” that might have ended the bitter infighting witnessed during the Boris Johnson years.

Johnny Mercer, the sacked veterans minister, appeared to sum up the mood in suggesting that he had been ousted to make way for a Truss favourite.

Liz Truss's political career — in pictures

New Conservative Party leader and Britain's Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss delivers a speech after being announced the winner of the Tory Party leadership contest in central London on September 5, 2022. Ms Truss is the UK's third female prime minister following Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher. AFP

Liz Truss during a hustings event in Darlington in August 2022. Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak are awaiting the results of a poll of Conservative Party members deciding which of them has been selected as the new party leader, and next prime minister. PA

Liz Truss playing pool during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London in August 2022. PA

Boris Johnson and Ms Truss arriving for an extraordinary summit at Nato headquarters in Brussels, in March 2022. AFP

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ms Truss arrive for talks in Moscow in February 2022. AP

Ms Truss in Red Square during a visit to Moscow in February 2022. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss meeting European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic (not seen) for talks in central London on the Northern Ireland Protocol on 11th February 2022. PA

Ms Truss with Marise Payne, the Australian minister of foreign affairs, at Government House in Sydney, Australia, in January 2022. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Liz Truss hosts Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic at Chevening House in January 2022 to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss visits British troops in Estonia as they operate alongside other Nato troops in Tapa in November 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Liz Truss walks through the old town in Tallinn, Estonia, in November 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss greeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, in November 2021. PA

Ms Truss at the Red Fort in New Delhi during a trip to India in October 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

The British foreign secretary on the Plaza de la Constitucion in Mexico City, during a trip to Mexico in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Queen Elizabeth II greeting Ms Truss at a reception for international business and investment leaders at Windsor Castle in October 2021. PA

Liz Truss with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, in New York, in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Ms Truss on a morning jog over Brooklyn Bridge in New York in September 2021. Photo: No. 10, Downing Street

Former Chancellor Philip Hammond, centre, holding his red ministerial box outside 11, Downing Street, flanked by Treasury colleagues Ms Truss and Mel Stride in October 2018. PA

Ms Truss, then secretary of state for justice, being escorted around HMP Brixton by prison governor David Bamford in November 2016. PA

Ms Truss as she became the first woman ever to hold the role of Lord Chancellor, arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice before being installed in July 2016. PA

In April 2016, the former environment secretary Liz Truss listening to former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (not seen) during his speech at the National Composites Centre in Bristol. PA

When she was environment minister, Ms Truss visited the bridge over the River Wharfe in Tadcaster, which collapsed after heavy flooding in December 2015. Getty Images

Addressing the Conservative party conference in Birmingham in 2014 when she was secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs. Getty Images

Mr Truss on the Sawnnington Farm to Fork stand at the Norfolk Food Festival at the Houses Of Parliament in October 2011. PA

Conservative Parliamentary candidate for South-West Norfolk Elizabeth Truss, while canvassing in the village of West Walton during the 2010 General Election campaign. PA

The former Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, centre, speaking at the launch Reform's Lawful Society report on the nature of crime and the incentives in the criminal justice system while Ms Truss looks on, in September 2008. PA

Former Conservative Leader William Hague meeting conservative candidate for Calder valley Ms Truss, during the General Election Campaign for 2005. PA

Two senior Johnson ministers, Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel, pre-empted Ms Truss’s announcements by saying they would step away from the front benches.

Ms Patel said she would resign as home secretary once a successor was in place, while Ms Dorries, the culture secretary, said she was leaving the Cabinet and was widely tipped to move to the House of Lords.

Those who had backed Mr Sunak urged Ms Truss to appoint an “inclusive” Cabinet and not simply surround herself with loyalists in the way that Mr Johnson was accused of doing.

Who is in new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's first Cabinet — video

Mr Raab, who was justice secretary as well as second-in-command to Mr Johnson, had not expected to continue his run in government, having described Ms Truss’s tax plans as an “electoral suicide note”.

The MP for Esher and Walton announced he would be supporting the government from the backbenches.

“Thanks to the brilliant MoJ [Ministry of Justice] team for all their hard work over the last year,” Mr Raab tweeted.

“Good luck to the new PM and her team.

“I look forward to supporting the government from the backbenches.”

Mr Shapps also tweeted his own exit as transport secretary but did not make the same remarks of support for the new Tory leader.

“It has been a privilege to serve as Transport Secretary; a job I loved,” he said.

“Now I look forward to being a strong, independent voice on the backbenches, developing policies that will further the Conservative cause and the interests of my constituents in Welwyn Hatfield.”

Mr Barclay, the MP for North East Cambridgeshire who had been health secretary for Mr Johnson’s final months in office, tweeted: “Thanks to all colleagues, both political and civil service, for their fantastic support. Wishing @trussliz and her ministerial team every success for the future.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Truss accepted Queen Elizabeth II’s invitation to form a government after Mr Johnson formally resigned at the monarch’s Balmoral estate in Scotland, completing the transfer of power after a two-month leadership contest.

Ms Truss is taking charge during an energy and inflation crisis she is expected to tackle within days with a sweeping plan to freeze fuel bills.

Plans briefed to journalists suggest Ms Truss could freeze household energy bills around their current level of £1,971 ($2,283) per year until at least January, and possibly until the next election expected in 2024.

Halting the looming 80 per cent rise in bills could cost as much as £100 billion ($116bn), and would mark a swift change of tack from Ms Truss after she spent the Tory leadership contest arguing for tax cuts instead of government handouts.

Simon Clarke, a Treasury minister and supporter of Ms Truss, said the new prime minister would make a “decisive intervention” to help people through the crisis unfolding in the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But there were doubts about how such a freeze would be paid for, with the opposition Labour Party alarmed by suggestions that the money would be recouped through higher bills over a period of 10 to 20 years.

Labour MPs called for a windfall tax on energy companies to fund the freeze, while Paul Massara, the former boss of energy company npower, told LBC radio: “This isn’t a freebie.”

Boris Johnson delivers farewell speech at 10 Downing Street — in pictures

Boris Johnson makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street, London, on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, before leaving for Balmoral in Scotland for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II to formally resign as Britain's prime minister. PA

Mr Johnson paid tribute to his successor Liz Truss, saying with her at the helm of 'this compassionate Conservative government', everything would be done to get people through the cost of living crisis this winter. He added that 'this country will endure it and we will win'. Getty

Mr Johnson highlighted his government’s record on delivering Brexit, supporting Ukraine and the Covid-19 vaccine campaign, watched by a group of loyal Conservative MPs, members of staff and his wife Carrie. PA

While Mr Johnson urged Conservative Party members to reunite behind the new leader Ms Truss, he could not resist making a dig at those who ousted him, saying 'they changed the rules half way through, never mind that now'. Reuters

Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie after the speech. AFP

Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie depart No 10 Downing Street. Photo: No 10 Downing Street

Conservative MPs gather to listen to Mr Johnson's speech. AFP

Mr Johnson joked about his post-prime ministerial future, alluding to plans for a getaway, but pledged to offer Ms Truss's government 'my most fervent support'. Photo: No 10 Downing Street

Britain's former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, centre, and Mr Johnson's sister Rachel, centre right, stand with Conservative MPs and staff as they gather to listen to the speech. AFP

Preparations for Mr Johnson's speech take place. PA

Journalists gather before Mr Johnson's speech. The queen will appoint Ms Truss, 47, as the 15th prime minister of her 70-year reign on Tuesday, after Mr Johnson formally tenders his resignation. EPA

Ms Dorries, left, and Mr Johnson's sister Rachel, right, arrive at Downing Street before the prime minister's departure. Getty

Mr Johnson, forced out by Tory MPs who lost patience after a series of scandals, tendered his resignation at Balmoral after his farewell speech in Downing Street early on Tuesday.

In a speech full of typical rhetorical flourishes, he urged the Conservatives to unite but expressed resentment over his midterm departure, complaining that MPs had “changed the rules halfway through”.

Amid speculation that he will one day attempt a comeback, he left people guessing with an enigmatic reference to the Roman statesman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, said to have come out of retirement for a second stint in power.

Mr Johnson flew to Scotland to offer his resignation after the queen, 96, who has suffered mobility problems and cancelled a number of public appearances in recent months, decided not to return to London for the handover.

Boris Johnson delivers final speech as UK PM — video

Ms Truss travelled separately to Balmoral to be invited to form a government, making her the 15th prime minister of the queen’s 70-year reign in a line stretching back to Winston Churchill.

She is the third woman to become prime minister after fellow Conservative leaders Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

Ms Truss was congratulated by world leaders but was urged by some to show cooperation towards the European Union after often stormy UK-EU relations under Mr Johnson's tenure.

“The British people are our friends, the British nation is our ally,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, who was visibly irked by Ms Truss's statement last month that the jury was still out on whether he was a friend or foe.