Jeremy Hunt remains as chancellor in Rishi Sunak’s first cabinet appointment, in a move certain to reassure the financial markets.
The retention of the man who has warned of “eye-watering” cuts to be made in a de-facto budget earmarked for next Monday puts the new government on course for fresh austerity.
The announcement came as Dominic Raab was pictured walking up Downing Street, ahead of a return to a top cabinet job – as deputy prime minister and justice secretary.
Earlier, in a ruthless clearout, Mr Sunak dismissed nine cabinet ministers – and a further two ministers attending cabinet – most of them high-profile supporters of Liz Truss.
They are; Jacob Rees-Mogg (business secretary), Kit Malthouse (education), Brandon Lewis (justice), Simon Clarke (levelling up), Chloe Smith (work and pensions), Ranil Jayawardena (environment), Robert Buckland (Wales), Jake Berry (party chair) and Wendy Morton (chief whip).
It leaves the education department facing its fifth secretary of state this year – a state of upheaval widely criticised as hugely disrupting for schools and colleges.
Alok Sharma will no longer attend cabinet – and is no longer a minister – but remains as Cop26 president and the UK’s negotiator at next month’s Cop27 summit in Egypt.
Simon Hart, the former Wales secretary, becomes the new chief whip, while James Cleverly stays as foreign secretary despite endorsing Boris Johnson.
Earlier, in his first speech as prime minister, Mr Sunak set the path towards austerity, telling the public: “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come.”
He added: “The government I lead will not leave the next generation – your children and grandchildren – with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.”
Mr Hunt tweeted: “It is going to be tough. But 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.”
At a meeting of the shadow cabinet, Keir Starmer told his senior ministers that the incoming prime minister can be “ruthless”.
“Rishi Sunak stabbed Boris Johnson in the back when he thought he could get his job. And in the same way, he will now try and disown the Tory record of recent years and recent months and pretend that he is a new broom,” Labour said he told them.
“But he was also the chancellor who left Britain facing the lowest growth of any developed country, the highest inflation and millions of people worried about their bills. And now he plans to make working people pay the price for the Tories crashing the economy.”
