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Subject: Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled a nearly completely new look cabinet, in a major departure from predecessor David Cameron’s top team
Excerpt: English text from the archived bilingual edition · Chinese edition
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Prime Minister Theresa May has unveiled a nearly completely new look cabinet, in a major departure from predecessor David Cameron’s top team
George Osborne, Michael Gove, John Whittingdale, Nicky Morgan and Oliver Letwin have all been sacked by Mrs May
Liz Truss is justice secretary, Justine Greening takes education and Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has been promoted to environment secretary
Boris Johnson became foreign secretary. Philip Hammond was made chancellor
Eurosceptic David Davis, meanwhile, will take charge of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union, in a newly created post of Brexit secretary
In another new post announced on Wednesday, Liam Fox was appointed as the new international trade secretary. Amber Rudd - formerly the energy secretary - took over Mrs May’s former role as home secretary
The current male-female ratio of the cabinet remains roughly the same - at 70% to 30%, while there are 16 cabinet members, including Mrs May, who backed Remain, and seven who campaigned for Brexit
Just four cabinet positions have stayed in the same hands: Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns and Scottish Secretary David Mundell
Former Conservative Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind praised the "ruthless" way Mrs May has appointed her top team, saying it showed strong leadership and “strategic”vision
"She has not only got a strategy to balance the Leave and Remain sides, she is trying to eliminate these distinctions because we are all now aiming for the same objective. She has appointed with a ruthlessness that has been impressive to look at," he told the BBC
“The decision that most surprised me was George Osborne - not that he ceased to be chancellor - but it appears she wasn’t even willing to offer him a job in government.... he is a very impressive heavyweight.”
Sir Malcolm, who was a minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, said Boris Johnson’s appointment as foreign secretary was "risky" because the qualities that make him popular with the public did not necessarily make him a good diplomat
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