RISHI'S BIG RESHUFFLE
James Cleverly is Home Sec and Vicky Atkins gets top health job as Rishi wields axe on housing and environment ministers
RISHI Sunak has named James Cleverly the new Home Secretary after Suella Braverman was sacked in a sweeping reshuffle.
And in a stunning comeback, David Cameron has been parachuted into the post of Foreign Secretary as a peer in the House of Lords.
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It marks an astonishing return to frontline politics for the ex-Tory leader who left No10 in 2016 following the Brexit referendum.
As a massive shake-up got underway, a No10 source said: "The PM wants a united team to deliver the changes this country needs for the long term."
In key developments:
- Jeremy Hunt will stay as Chancellor ahead of next week's Autumn Statement
- MP allies of Ms Braverman were furious at her sacking and accused Mr Sunak of "caving to the left"
- She was fired after an incendiary attack on the police in an unauthorised article
- Steve Barclay was demoted from Health Secretary to Environment Secretary
- Junior Treasury Minister Victoria Atkins becomes Health Secretary
- Rising star Laura Trott has been promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- Therese Coffey has departed as Environment Secretary after serving all five Tory PMs.
- And Jeremy Quin has quit the Cabinet as Paymaster General to focus on his constituency
- Housing Minister Rachel Maclean revealed she has been sacked
- A slew of junior ministers announced they were retuning to the backbenches
- Esther McVey appointed minister for 'common sense'
- Follow all the latest on The Sun's live blog here
Today's reshuffle is a roll of the dice for Mr Sunak who is desperate to close the gap on Labour's 20-point poll lead.
He launched into a huge overhaul of his top team today after a weekend considering whether to sack Ms Braverman.
SUELLA SACKED
Mr Sunak brutally sacked Ms Braverman over the phone yesterday morning as she became the first casualty of the reshuffle.
Downing Street blamed “differences of style” and suggested the outspoken ex Home Secretary had broken “collective responsibility” with her unauthorised attack on the Met.
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The PM’s press secretary pointed to “issues around language” and added: “It is clearly very important that we have a united and strong team at the top of Government.”
Allies of Ms Braverman are furious and yesterday unleashed on the PM for “caving to the left” by dumping her.
But staring down the right-wingers, Mr Sunak’s press secretary said: “We govern for the country, we do not govern for one particular way of thinking.”
Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns said: "I support Suella Braverman for speaking the truth. Bad call by Rishi caving in to the left!"
Jacob Rees-Mogg added: "Firing her is a mistake – she understood what the country wanted and needed in terms of migration, and I think it raises questions about the seriousness of the Government in tackling illegal migration.”
Ms Braverman had also sparked anger for saying homeless people live in tents "as a lifestyle choice".
This morning Mr Sunak asked her to leave the government, and she accepted.
After joining government, Mr Cameron said: "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.
Britain is a truly international country. Our people live all over the world and our businesses trade in every corner of the globe.
"Working to help ensure stability and security on the global stage is both essential and squarely in our national interest. International security is vital for our domestic security."
Mr Cameron's return to the Cabinet table was mocked by Labour after Mr Sunak recently declared himself the "change" PM.
Shadow Cabinet Minister 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 former PM replaces Mr Cleverly who has held the role of UK Foreign Secretary since September 2022.
As Home Secretary Mr Cleverly will have to respond to the Supreme Court's ruling on the Rwanda migration plan on Wednesday.
The Tory MP kept his job under Rishi Sunak - but was originally given the role under Liz Truss.
Before taking on his new role, Cleverly was the Education Secretary for three months, from July 2022 until September 2022 under the last days of Boris Johnson.
Meanwhile longtime schools minister Nick Gibb said he had asked to go on to the backbenches ahead of becoming a diplomat.
And health minister Neil O'Brien - driving through the smoking ban - has also quit the government.
Esther McVey has made a shock return to the Cabinet as Sunak's "common sense tsar" tasked with tackling the scourge of wokery, The Sun understands.
The PM appointed Ms McVey to the Cabinet Office role today in an olive branch to the Tory right.
Sunak has continued to reshuffle the more junior ranks of his Government, appointing Nigel Huddleston as financial secretary to the Treasury and Andrew Griffith as a minister in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
He also added Jo Churchill in the Department for Work and Pensions, Damian Hinds in the Department for Education and Andrew Stephenson in the Department of Health and Social Care.
In his speech to the Lord Mayor's Banquet, Sunak made reference to his dramatic cabinet reshuffle today.
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He said that 2023 "has delivered one of the most significant years for British foreign policy...due in no small part to James Cleverly".
He added that in his new role, Mr Cameron "will build on everything we have achieved" this year.
Inside David Cameron’s return to politics
By JACK ELSOM, Chief Political Correspondent
DAVID Cameron’s return as Foreign Secretary marks an extraordinary comeback for a politician widely believed to be yesterday’s man.
After calling and losing the Brexit referendum in 2016, he fell on his sword to quit both as PM and an MP.
For a while he appeared to have vanished without trace - famously provoking a foul-mouthed rant from Danny Dyer as having left the country in the lurch with his “trotters up”.
His only glimpse of the limelight was negative headlines surrounding his relationship with dodgy financier Lex Greensill.
But Mr Cameron, 57, had retired as one of youngest ex-PMs in history - and clearly felt he had more to give when he told pals in 2018 he was “bored s***less”.
Allies even suggested he could become Foreign Secretary - an offer now grasped years later by Rishi Sunak.
The PM will hope to draw on his wealth of experience, often overshadowed by his legacy-defining Brexit gamble.
After a period as a government adviser in the John Major years, Cameron rose the ranks in opposition to become Tory leader in 2005.
He secured the most votes in 2010 but fell short of a full-out majority, striking a coalition deal with Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems.
His tenure was marked by spending cuts to slash Britain's deficit - critically known as austerity - bombing Libya, gay marriage and two referendums on voting reform and Scottish independence.
But under pressure from Nigel Farage's Ukip, he will forever be known for to calling the historic EU referendum in 2016.
Sneaking a narrow Tory majority and cutting the Lib Dems loose in 2015, Mr Cameron held the in/out vote the following summer.
During the campaign he angered Brexiteer Tories for scaremongering with “Project Fear” doomsday warnings about leaving.
And so when the people went the other way, Mr Cameron felt he had no choice but to quit, waving goodbye to No10 with his wife Samantha and three children.
For a while it seemed he was content with the quite life from his Oxfordshire shepherd's hut.
But now he is back in the thick of it as Britain's most senior diplomat.
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