In the next big move, United Kingdom’s newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss appointed several ministers in the new cabinet. She designated James Cleverly as UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the country’s top diplomat and Kwasi Kwarteng as the new finance minister or chancellor of the exchequer.
Other significant appointments included Thérèse Coffey as Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary, Suella Braverman QC as Home secretary and Ben Wallace as Defence secretary.
The Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP @ThereseCoffey has been appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care @DHSCgovuk.
She will also be Deputy Prime Minister.#Reshuffle pic.twitter.com/0MSU6c9L28
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) September 6, 2022
The other ministers in the new government are:
- Justice secretary and lord chancellor Brandon Lewis
- Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, minister for intergovernmental relations and minister for equalities Nadhim Zahawi
- Leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the council Penny Mordaunt
- Lord privy seal and leader of the House of Lords Lord True
- Minister without portfolio and Conservative party chairman Jake Berry
- Cop26 President Alok Sharma
- Business, energy and industrial strategy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Levelling up, housing and communities Secretary Simon Clarke
- International trade secretary and president of the board of trade Kemi Badenoch
- Work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith
- Education secretary Kit Malthouse
- Environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena
- Transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan
- Culture secretary Michelle Donelan
- Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris
- Scotland secretary Alister Jack
- Wales secretary Sir Robert Buckland QC
The immediate move came as the new prime minister took charge of her duties on her first day. Liz Truss cabinet reshuffle was her immediate responsibility. While a lot of members were newly appointed many were reappointed. Cleverly was the education secretary under previous PM Boris Johnson since July while Kwarteng was the business and energy secretary. The former became the member of the parliament for the first time in 2015 for the town of Braintree.
The Rt Hon James Cleverly MP @JamesCleverly has been appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs @FCDOGovUK.#Reshuffle pic.twitter.com/TlueSHJ3Nk
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) September 6, 2022
This is not Cleverly’s first stint with the foreign ministry, as before he has served as a junior minister in the ministry. Cleverly’s stand is in direct line with Liz Truss’ position against Russia and China.
Business and energy minister since January 2021, Kwasi Kwarteng has opined that the new government is in position to borrow more fund to support households and businesses on their energy bills while keeping a guard on public finances.
The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP @KwasiKwarteng has been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer @HMTreasury.#Reshuffle pic.twitter.com/6YQy0YuQPs
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) September 6, 2022
Liz Truss took over as UK’s Prime Minister from 6 September 2022. The appointment came two months after Leader of the Conservative Party, Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on 7th July after a long drawn political drama. She won 81,326 votes that is 21,000 more votes than the previous Chancellor to the exchequer Rishi Sunak.
With her appointment as the PM, Truss, 47, became UK’s 56th prime minister and its third female leader. But the road is rough for the new PM as she has to literally fight through the downgrading economy that might face recession by the end of the year, cost of living crisis, overhaul of the tax system, falling public services among others.
