Liz Truss streamlines Downing Street in shift for nimbler government

Rishi Sunak supporters are axed from Cabinet, but five leadership rivals are installed to tackle Britain's economic woes

The new front line of British politics, with Prime Minister Liz Truss, centre, flanked by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, left, and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. AFP

The new British prime minister Liz Truss has instigated a major clear-out of Downing Street officials, bringing in a fresh team to steer the country through its economic crisis.

Ms Truss has swept out powerful policy units and many civil servants in what she hopes will become a streamlined operation.

She has also assembled a “Cabinet of chums” with the sacking of Rishi Sunak supporters, but one that she hopes will remain unified in tackling fearsome economic headwinds.

Liz Truss's first Cabinet - in pictures

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

The majority of Boris Johnson’s allies have been removed and a tranche of 20-something advisers appointed to senior roles in what is hoped will be a nimble unit that avoids the indiscretions of their predecessors.

Dozens of civil servants have also been moved out of Number 10 into the Cabinet Office with that department’s authority, now under Nadhim Zahawi, increased considerably.

The policy-making team for government will now become the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat, providing recommendations to steer Britain through its current difficulties.

But there are questions over the governmental experience of the new appointments. The critical post of Chief of Staff has gone to Mark Fullbrook, an established political campaigner, but one who has no experience of a government role.

The chief policy adviser, his deputy and the political secretary are all in their 20s, and will have to bring vigour to match Ms Truss’s long work days.

Central government power could be further destabilised if Ms Truss decides to remove the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and National Security Adviser Stephen Lovegrove.

The dismissal of Rishi Sunak's Cabinet supporters was fast and brutal on Tuesday night. Only half an hour after Ms Truss entered Downing Street, she went to Parliament where she sacked Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, George Eustice and Steve Barclay.

She appointed two of her closest allies, Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and Therese Coffey as deputy prime minister and health secretary.

Downing Street’s response to accusations of a mass Mr Sunak expulsion was met with the riposte that five leadership contenders were now in the Cabinet.

This included rising star Kemi Badenoch, international trade secretary, who was an impressive candidate in the leadership race and the “One Nation” Tory liberal Tom Tugendhat, security minister, who came fifth in the contest.

Penny Mordaunt, who may well have become prime minister if she had not been pipped to second spot by Ms Truss, was given the task of getting tax cuts through Parliament as Leader of the House of Commons.

It is also a Cabinet of unprecedented diversity, with the four Great Offices of State held either by ethnic minorities or women or both.

While there will be a many ministerial appointments on Wednesday and Thursday, with junior Mr Sunak supporters getting some reward, there is some grumbling that the prime minister is following Mr Johnson’s policy of rewarding loyalty over competence.

The five leadership Cabinet members go a long way to counter that. However, with Mr Sunak securing the votes of 137 MPs in the final voting round, there is a core of anti-Truss members who could cause trouble if things go wrong.

As recent history has taught the country, you can never write-off the potential of a Tory leadership challenge.

As a further sign of the disruption and uncertainty that has gripped British politics since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the only Cabinet member to survive from David Cameron’s premiership is now the person leading the country, Ms Truss.