New British premier Rishi Sunak appoints Cabinet

LONDON (AA) – Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday announced his new Cabinet, with the unity of his increasingly fractured party his top concern.

Alongside the premiership itself, the three big offices of state in the UK are the chancellor, home secretary, and foreign secretary.

Jeremy Hunt, a centrist, will remain chancellor, with James Cleverly, an ally of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also keeping his post as foreign secretary as Sunak likely sought to retain the government’s stability.

Suella Braverman will return as home secretary, after resigning just days ago over a breach of the ministerial code, though she was also increasingly at odds with former Prime Minister Truss over differing positions on tightening immigration controls.

Braverman is from the right wing of the party and her re-appointment has given that faction representation at the Cabinet table.

Dominic Raab, a Sunak supporter, will reprise his role as justice secretary and deputy prime minister, positions he held under former prime minister Boris Johnson.

Steve Barclay is the new health secretary, replacing Therese Coffey, the closest ally and deputy prime minister of Liz Truss, Sunak’s short-lived predecessor who resigned after 49 days in office. Coffey is now environment secretary.

Ben Wallace was re-appointed as defence secretary, and Gillian Keegan became education secretary.

Penny Mordaunt will remain the leader of the House of Commons. She was a two-time leadership candidate who pulled out of the contest at the last minute on Monday after failing to reach the required threshold of support within the parliamentary party.

Kemi Badenoch, a rising star in the party’s right wing owing to her hard line on the “culture war” and tepid stance on the climate crisis, will remain the international trade secretary.

Alister Jack and Chris Heaton-Harris were re-appointed as Scotland and Northern Ireland secretaries, respectively, and David TC Davies became Welsh secretary.

Nadhim Zahawi was appointed as the new chairman of the Conservative Party.