What’s old is new again for UK

New British PM Rishi Sunak has recreated Liz Truss’s top team and retained leading ­allies of Boris Johnson in a cabinet that emphasises continuity over change.

Rishi Sunak is welcomed to No. 10 Downing St after being sworn in as Britain’s new Prime Minister, the third in two months. Picture: Simon Walker / No. 10 Downing Street

New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has recreated Liz Truss’s top team and retained leading ­allies of Boris Johnson in a cabinet that emphasises continuity over change.

Although Mr Sunak distanced himself from both former prime ministers in his speech outside Downing St overnight on Tuesday, almost every senior appointment served under one or both of his predecessors.

His decision to keep Jeremy Hunt at the Treasury and James Cleverly at the Foreign Office, and to bring Suella Braverman back as Home Secretary, means that the great offices of state looked exactly the same on Tuesday afternoon as they did six days before.

Ms Braverman’s return to the Home Office came less than a week after she was sacked for breaking the ministerial code. However, her decision to endorse Mr Sunak on Sunday afternoon was a pivotal moment in the ­Conservative leadership election, making it clear that Mr Johnson would not win the universal support of the Tory right in his ­attempt to win a second stint in Downing St.

Mr Hunt, who also endorsed Mr Sunak, had been widely expected to stay at the Treasury. Had Mr Sunak won the leadership when Mr Johnson resigned in July, Mr Hunt would have been ­extremely unlikely to get the role of chancellor of the exchequer, but he is now seen as a crucial part of calming the markets.

Mr Hunt said he was “honoured to serve our country” after his reappointment, but warned that it was “going to be tough”.

“Protecting the vulnerable – and people’s jobs, mortgages and bills – will be at the front of our minds as we work to restore stability, confidence and long-term growth,” he said.

Mr Cleverly’s reappointment was more of a surprise. A Johnson loyalist who backed the former prime minister’s leadership run last week, he had been tipped for demotion. Mr Sunak’s decision to keep him in post is a significant olive branch to Mr Johnson’s backers. Mr Cleverly said he was honoured, and vowed to continue “defending democracy and freedom, especially standing with Ukraine”.

To add to the sense of continuity, Mr Sunak brought Dominic Raab back with the same roles he held for the last year of the Johnson cabinet: Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary.

Penny Mordaunt, who challenged Mr Sunak for the top job, stayed as leader of the Commons despite hopes of a bigger job.

Michael Gove was reappointed to the Department for Levelling Up, which Mr Johnson created for him last year but dramatically sacked him from in July in a last-ditch effort to save his crumbling government.

He is now serving under his fourth prime minister.

Another returner was Oliver Dowden, whom Mr Sunak ­appointed chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, running the Cabinet Office. Mr Dowden is one of Mr Sunak’s closest political friends, having run his summer leadership campaign.

He was minister for the Cabinet Office in the first seven months of Mr Johnson’s premiership, before becoming culture secretary and party chairman. He resigned from government in June after a pair of damaging by-election defeats, warning Mr Johnson that the party could not “carry on with business as usual”.

Steve Barclay was appointed Health Secretary, seven weeks after being sacked from the position by Ms Truss. He held the role for only the last two months of Mr Johnson’s premiership. He was chief secretary to the Treasury when Mr Sunak was chancellor.

Therese Coffey, Ms Truss’s deputy prime minister and Mr Barclay’s predecessor as health secretary, was appointed Environment Secretary, having been a ­junior minister at the department for more than three years.

Nadhim Zahawi became Conservative Party chairman.

The Times