Rishi Sunak sacks Home Secretary Braverman; ex-PM Cameron back as new Foreign Secretary

PTI, Nov 13, 2023, 6:40 PM IST

London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carried out a dramatic reshuffle to his Cabinet on Monday, firing his hardline Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman and bringing former premier David Cameron back to frontline politics as his Foreign Secretary.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as Home Secretary. I will have more to say in due course,” Braverman, 43, said in a brief statement, as it was announced that James Cleverly, 54, will be replacing her in the Cabinet, making way for Cameron, 54, as the new Foreign Secretary.

Cameron, who is no longer an MP in the House of Commons, will have to be appointed to the House of Lords to meet the parliamentary protocol.

“While I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience – as Conservative Leader for eleven years and Prime Minister for six – will assist me in helping the prime minister,” the former prime minister said in his first comments after being appointed as the foreign secretary.

Cameron served as the UK Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016.

“The King has been pleased to approve the following government appointments: Rt Hon James Cleverly MP as Secretary of State for the Home Department; Rt Hon David Cameron as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs,” a Downing Street statement said.

The reshuffle comes at a time when outgoing foreign secretary Cleverly was scheduled for bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in the UK for a five-day official visit during which he held tea-time talks with Sunak at 10 Downing Street on Sunday.

It now remains to be seen how his further meetings will unfold and if he will be meeting Cameron as his new UK counterpart in place of Cleverly.

“Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable Prime Minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time,” Cameron posted in a statement on X.

“I want to help him to deliver the security and prosperity our country needs and be part of the strongest possible team that serves the United Kingdom and that can be presented to the country when the General Election is held,” he said.

Cameron resigned as prime minister in June 2016 soon after he lost in the Brexit referendum, having campaigned for the UK to remain within the European Union (EU). At the time, he was directly at odds with Sunak – then a junior minister – who had campaigned for Britain to leave the EU.

“While I have been out of front-line politics for the last seven years, I hope that my experience – as Conservative Leader for eleven years and Prime Minister for six – will assist me in helping the Prime Minister to meet these vital challenges,” added Cameron.

The last foreign secretary to serve in the Lords was Peter Carrington, who was part of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1980s, according to the Associated Press.

Braverman’s exit was somewhat expected after days of speculation over her job since it emerged her controversial newspaper article attacking the Metropolitan Police was published without clearance from 10 Downing Street.

The Goan-origin Cabinet minister has repeatedly courted controversy in her senior UK Cabinet role, most recently by accusing the Met Police of “playing favourites” when tackling aggressive Israel-Gaza protests in an article in ‘The Times’.

Sunak had been under pressure from sections of his Conservative Party as well as faced attacks from the Opposition for allowing her to continue in her job after her breach of the ministerial code by defying her boss’ orders.

“Our brave police officers deserve the thanks of every decent citizen for their professionalism in the face of violence and aggression from protesters and counter-protesters in London yesterday. That multiple officers were injured doing their duty is an outrage,” Braverman said in a statement on Sunday evening, following far-right violence during the protests over the weekend.

“The sick, inflammatory and, in some cases, clearly criminal chants, placards and paraphernalia openly on display at the march mark a new low. Antisemitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling,” she said, in her final statement as home secretary.

However, she is unlikely to go to the Tory backbenches of the House of Commons quietly and is expected to create trouble for the Sunak-led government with the backing of her supporters on the right of the Conservative Party.

Meanwhile, four junior ministers have announced they are standing down from the government.

Long-serving Schools Minister Nick Gibb announced he was resigning and would step down as an MP at the next election, while Neil O’Brien said he had left his role as health minister.

Will Quince has also resigned from the Department of Health and Social Care, while Jesse Norman has left his role as a transport minister.