Cabinet reshuffle in full: Cameron's shock return and Braverman backlash
Suella Braverman is out and former prime minister David Cameron is back - Robert Peston, Romilly Weeks and Paul Brand report
By Lewis Denison, Westminster Producer
Former prime minister David Cameron has been named foreign secretary in a major Cabinet reshuffle, which has also seen Suella Braverman sacked as home secretary.
In a highly unusual move, Rishi Sunak asked Mr Cameron to return to government and appointed him to the House of Lords so this could be achieved.
Ms Braverman was sacked after defying Number 10 by writing an article criticising the Metropolitan Police over the way it allowed pro-Palestinian protests to take place on Armistice Day.
The prime minister asked her to leave government on Monday morning following a weekend of violence and racism in London involving far-right and pro-Palestinian protesters - with Ms Braverman's rhetoric being blamed for causing the chaos.
Defending his reshuffle the prime minister said on X he had built a "united team."
He said: "Professionalism, integrity and experience – this is a team that will be bold in making the right decisions for our great country, not the easy ones."
Rishi Sunak's Cabinet reshuffle in full:
The prime minister carried out a ministerial reshuffle on Monday, which a Number 10 source said "strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future".
James Cleverly made home secretary - the former foreign secretary has been promoted to replace Suella Braverman
David Cameron becomes foreign secretary - the former prime minister has replaced James Cleverly as foreign secretary in a highly unusual move by Mr Sunak
Jeremy Hunt stays chancellor - despite speculation he would be sacked as chancellor in a reshuffle, the senior minister has kept his job
Victoria Atkins promoted to health secretary - the former financial secretary to the Treasury has replaced Steve Barclay at the Department of Health and Social Care
Steve Barclay appointed environment secretary - the former health secretary has replaced Therese Coffey
Therese Coffey - the long-standing minister has left her role as environment secretary
Esther McVey appointed minister without portfolio within the Cabinet Office - the former minister will speak "common sense" on social issues for the government, according to ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston
Paul Scully - has lost his position as minister for London and minister for tech and the digital economy
Richard Holden - Greg Hands has left his role as Conservative Party chairman to make way for Mr Holden
Greg Hands - the former party chairman has been demoted to become a business minister
Laura Trott - the former work and pensions minister has been promoted to Treasury chief secretary
Nick Gibb - MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton resigned as schools minister and announced he will not stand at next election
Neil O'Brien - Harborough MP stood down as a care minister as the reshuffle was confirmed
Will Quince - Colchester MP Mr Quince said he was standing down as a health minister to focus on other things ahead of leaving Parliament at the next election
Jesse Norman - the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, said he has quit as a minister in the Department for Transport
Rachel Maclean - said she was asked to step down from her role as housing minister. She was the 15th person to hold that position since 2010
Jeremy Quin - the MP for Horsham resigned as paymaster general despite being assured by the PM that he could remain in government
John Glen - the former chief secretary to the Treasury has been demoted to paymaster general
George Freeman - the MP for Mid Norfolk has stood down as a science minister after telling the PM in summer he would leave government at the next reshuffle
Steve Double - resigned as a government whip saying he had informed the chief whip of his decision in September
Andrea Leadsom - assigned as parliamentary under secretary for health and social care
Right wing backlash as David Cameron's foreign secretary appointment criticised
The prime minister's move to sack Ms Braverman and appoint Mr Cameron signals a seismic shift toward the left at the top of government, which could backfire for Mr Sunak.
Ms Braverman, who has been tipped as a future Conservative leader and enjoys huge support in the right wing of the party, issued a statement indicating she may not leave government quietly.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary. I will have more to say in due course," she said.
Right-wing Tories have already begun criticising the move, with MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns writing on X she had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM saying it was "time for Rishi Sunak to go and replace him with a 'real' Conservative party leader."
Many in her wing of the party will also be unhappy about the return of Mr Cameron, who had been the leader of a more centrist Conservative Party during his tenure.
And Mr Cameron, in a statement outlining his plans as home secretary, even admitted he "may have disagreed with some individual decisions” made by his new boss.
But he said he would be bound be collective responsibility now that he is a member of Cabinet, but acknowledged that there had been disagreements in the past, notably on HS2.
He told broadcasters: “On the whole, as an ex-prime minister, I’ve tried to keep quiet about politics, stay out of politics. It’s hard enough being prime minister without having your predecessors endlessly giving a running commentary.
“But of course I have disagreed with some individual decisions, but politics is a team enterprise.
“I have decided to join this team because I believe Rishi Sunak is a good Prime Minister, doing a difficult job at a hard time.
“I want to support him, I’m a member of the team. I accept the Cabinet collective responsibility that comes with that.”
Tory MP and Liz Truss ally Sir Simon Clarke appeared to criticise a shift away from the right wing in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The former minister shared a post about Gareth Southgate’s decision not to include Raheem Sterling in his England squad, writing: “Some controversial choices here from the manager, putting it very mildly.
“Never wise to lack options on the right wing – the squad risks being badly unbalanced.”
'It's as if I've gone through a wormhole': Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks and Political Editor Robert Peston on David Cameron's appointment
Opposition parties hit out at Mr Cameron's appointment as speaker ponders how he will be scrutinised
Labour attacked the prime minister's decision to appoint Mr Cameron, who resigned in 2016 as prime minister after losing the Brexit referendum.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner told ITV News the appointment shows the Tories are "out of ideas" as she called for a general election.
The party's national campaign co-ordinator, Pat McFadden said: “A few weeks ago Rishi Sunak said David Cameron was part of a failed status quo, now he’s bringing him back as his life raft.
“This puts to bed the prime minister’s laughable claim to offer change from 13 years of Tory failure.”
The Liberal Democrats said Mr Cameron's appointment to the House of Lords "should be blocked given his shady past".
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: "Bringing back a scandal-hit, unelected former prime minister who has been criticising Sunak's government at every turn has the stench of desperation.
"There is not even the bottom of the barrel left for Sunak to scrape in the Conservative party.
“David Cameron was at the heart of the biggest lobbying scandal of recent times. Handing him a peerage makes a mockery of our honours system. Cameron’s peerage should be blocked given his shady past.”
Meanwhile, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he has commissioned advice from parliamentary officials to ensure the Foreign Office’s work is scrutinised “effectively” by MPs given new Mr Cameron will sit in the House of Lords.
He told MPs: “This is not the first time in recent years that a Cabinet minister has been appointed in the House of Lords, but given the gravity of the current international situation, it is especially important that this House is able to scrutinise the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office effectively.
“I have therefore commissioned advice from the clerks about possible options for enhancing (scrutiny) of the work of the Foreign Secretary when that post is filled by a member of the other House.
“I also look forward to hearing the government’s proposals on how the Foreign Secretary will be properly accountable to this House.”
Why was Suella Braverman sacked as home secretary?
Mrs Braverman's removal from Cabinet follows widespread criticism of an unauthorised article written by Braverman, criticising the way pro-Palestinian protests had been policed.
But ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston said the PM had been planning to sack Ms Braverman since she said homeless people choose to live in tents as a "lifestyle choice".
A government source said she "does not understand the concept of being part of a team” and the prime minister is using his reshuffle to build a "united team”.
Calls for her to resign intensified after she wrote in The Times that "pro-Palestinian mobs" were "largely ignored" by police "even when clearly breaking the law".
She also accused officers of "double standards" when it came to right-wing protests.
Downing Street had sought to distance itself from Ms Braverman's comments, saying it did not sign off on her article before it was published.
Critics said her remarks had whipped up a frenzy among the far right and nine officers were injured as they prevented a violent crowd reaching the Cenotaph on Saturday ahead of a moment's silence.
Seven men were charged with a variety of offences following the disorder, including assault on an emergency worker, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.
Met officers made 145 arrests during the pro-Palestinian demonstration and counter-protest by far-right groups, the force said.
This was far from the first time that Ms Braverman had received widespread backlash and at times divided her own party over her controversial opinions.
During a year in the role, she regularly made remarks that critics said were done to stoke culture wars, with some arguing she was laying the groundwork for a Tory leadership bid.
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