Rishi Sunak is poised to bring back a gang of ex-ministers ousted from key Cabinet jobs as he desperately bids to unite warring Tories.
The new Conservative leader is expected to revive the political careers of frontbench flops who helped propel him to No10.
Former ministers whose support is set to be rewarded include Gavin Williamson - sacked twice from top roles; Matt Hancock - who quit after breaking social distancing rules by snogging his mistress; and Suella Braverman - fired last Wednesday for two breaches of the ministerial code.
Mr Sunak last night claimed it was his “utmost priority to bring our party and our country together”.
But his attempts to quell bitter Tory mutterings about how he seized the keys to Downing Street are likely to result in shock returns for derided figures - and plum posts for loyalists.
While Mr Sunak secured an estimated 200 MP endorsements, supporters insisted he did not guarantee roles in return for high-profile backers.
Moments before the announcement he will become Britain’s next PM, former Chief Whip Mark Harper said: “He hasn’t made any promises of jobs to anybody.”
Yet Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is widely tipped to retain his role, having only entered the Treasury on October 14 after Kwasi Kwarteng was finally sacked over his botched mini-Budget.
Mr Hunt is due to deliver his Medium-Term Fiscal Plan - a new tax and spending blueprint expected to hammer Britain with another round of brutal cuts and austerity - alongside the latest horror economic forecasts on Halloween.
And one of Rishi Sunak's first declared supporters, Crispin Blunt, last night told Sky News it's "inconceivable" that Mr Hunt - who backed Sunak - will be removed.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace could be one of the highest-profile casualties of Mr Sunak’s looming reshuffle.
While he has been praised for his handling of the response to Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Wallace backed Mr Johnson’s doomed attempt to re-enter No10.
It also emerged that Mr Sunak refused to promise to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 in a meeting with the hard-right European Research Group yesterday.
Mr Wallace previously threatened to quit unless the funding pledge was renewed.
If he leaves office - either by being sacked or resigning - he would be among the favourites for the upcoming post of NATO Secretary-General, which is due to become vacant next spring.
Multi-millionaire Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg may be lucky to hold onto his Cabinet job after blasting Mr Sunak’s tax plans, backing Ms Truss over the summer and then supporting Mr Johnson for a Downing Street return.
International Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch, a rising star of the party and who was credited with electrifying the leadership race over the summer before coming fourth, is expected to stay in Cabinet.
Levelling-Up Secretary Simon Clarke faces being ousted after fierce criticism of Mr Sunak during the summer leadership battle.
Sajid Javid is set for a Cabinet return, having been Chancellor, Home Secretary, Business Secretary, Communities Secretary, Culture Secretary and Health Secretary.
Here are a few of the washed-up repeats who we could be seeing in Rishi Sunak ’s Cabinet.
Gavin Williamson
Ex-Chief Whip Mr Williamson could make a ministerial comeback after employing his dark arts behind the scenes in Mr Sunak’s campaign.
He was sacked as Defence Secretary by Theresa May in 2019 after being accused of leaking sensitive details from the National Security Council - an allegation he has always denied.
He was brought back as Education Secretary under Boris Johnson, but was fired again over his handling of the 2020 exams grading fiasco during the coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Hancock
Ex-Health Secretary Mr Hancock quit in June 2021 after being caught on CCTV a month earlier kissing his mistress in his Whitehall office in breach of coronavirus restrictions.
He’s kept a high profile ever since, with colleagues joking he touted himself for a Cabinet job in Liz Truss ’s dying days by saying she needed more backbench talent.
He is in line for a political resurrection after he threw his weight behind Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest.
But it’s not nailed on. Many have pointed to scenes outside Tory HQ after Mr Sunak was crowned. The new leader brushed straight past Mr Hancock to see party chairman Jake Berry.
Suella Braverman
Ms Braverman expects to return to government after throwing her weight behind Mr Sunak on Sunday - dealing a fatal blow to Boris Johnson’s dream of a bombshell No10 comeback.
She ran as a hard-right Home Secretary but has shown that although she has those principles, she can have others.
On October 4 she said: “I would love to be having a front page of The Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, that’s my dream. That's my dream. That's my obsession."
On October 23, backing Rishi Sunak, she said: “We cannot indulge in parochial or nativist fantasies."
She was sacked just six days ago for leaking a confidential government document and a security breach.
Grant Shapps
Ms Braverman’s replacement as Home Secretary, Grant Shapps, hopes to cling to his post - which Liz Truss gave him just after he said, last Monday, she could be ousted in a week.
Always the canny entrepreneur, Mr Shapps was only a few hours out. He was previously mocked for selling get-rich-quick schemes under a fake identity.
He also enraged rail unions as Transport Secretary for refusing to engage in talks with them to avert a summer of strikes.
But he did endear himself to some Tories for his gawky videos promoting the rail network, and was a key figure swinging in behind Rishi Sunak.
Dominic Raab
Former Deputy PM Dominic Raab is eyeing a return to the frontbench after being fired by Liz Truss when she became Premier last month.
Mr Raab was demoted as Foreign Secretary last year after it emerged he was on holiday in Greece when the Taliban rampaged across Afghanistan, retaking the capital, Kabul.
Nadhim Zahawi
Flip-flopping Nadhim Zahawi could hold onto his Cabinet Office Minister role.
He was ridiculed after backing Boris Johnson’s latest leadership tilt in a newspaper article on Sunday night one minute before the former PM quit the contest - having urged him to quit No10 just weeks earlier.
The multimillionaire former oil advisor also infamously repaid expenses he had claimed for heating his stable block.
Michael Gove
Cabinet veteran Michael Gove is tipped for yet another return to frontline politics, having languished on the backbenches since being sacked by then PM Mr Johnson in July.
He is seen by many Tories as a capable operator who gets things done, though many teachers have never forgiven him for his hardline stint as Education Secretary.
And… Boris Johnson?
There could even be a “sympathy” job for Mr Johnson, who won international acclaim for his backing for Kyiv when Vladimir Putin waged war on Russia’s neighbour in February.
Following the ex-PM shelving his Downing Street comeback dream, Mr Sunak tweeted: “I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”
That was seen in some quarters as a hint at a foreign relations role for Mr Johnson, who could also be interested in the NATO job.
He could also be handed a role as a Ukraine envoy; earlier this month it was reported he was due to be unveiled as the new President of the Conservative Friends of Ukraine group.
But one source suggested Mr Sunak’s remarks may have been a sly dig at his plan to make millions on the lucrative after-dinner speaking circuit.
