On September 6, local time, Elizabeth Tras, who had been elected as the head of the British Conservative Party the day before, accepted the formal appointment of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and became the new prime minister of the United Kingdom. Subsequently, the new prime minister announced the list of members of the new Cabinet of the British government.
There are reports that Tras made a major reshuffle of the cabinet after taking office, appointing his loyal supporters and close allies to key cabinet positions, while members who supported his rival, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sonak, were almost all "kicked out" of the cabinet.
↑ On September 6, local time, the new British Prime Minister Elizabeth Tras delivered an inaugural speech outside the Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street
Formation of a "loyal" cabinet
The major subjects are all ethnic minorities
On the 5th local time, Tras won the British Conservative Party leadership election, and then a number of cabinet officials resigned. On the same day, Pritty Patel resigned as Home Secretary, which was the first change in the British cabinet when the new prime minister officially took office. Red Star News previously reported that Patel's announcement of resignation actually fired a "starting gun" for the reshuffle of the Tras cabinet. Immediately afterwards, Nadine Doris also expressed his intention to resign as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports. (Red Star News previously reported: "A few hours after Tras won the election, the British Home Secretary 'took the lead' to resign, and the new government plans to intervene in energy prices with hundreds of billions of pounds")
↑ After Tras' victory, Home Secretary Patel (right) and Culture Secretary Doris both resigned
Shortly after accepting the Queen's formal appointment, Tras returned to the Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street to deliver an inaugural address and announce the names of the new Cabinet members. After defeating Sunak in the Conservative Party's lead-up run, Tras allegedly made "loyalty and ideological consistency" the primary consideration in selecting officials. She campaigned in favor of the party's right wing for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and her choice of cabinet officials reflects this.
Terrass appointed a new cabinet minister on the 6th, with Quasi Kvoten as chancellor of the exchequer, James Cleffery as minister of foreign affairs, and Sulla Breffman succeeding Patel as secretary of state of the interior. Among them, Kvoten is britain's first African-American chancellor of the exchequer, and his parents have previously immigrated to the UK from Ghana. Since entering the House of Commons together in 2010, Kvoten has been a longtime ally of Terrass, and the two co-authored a book advocating deregulation and free markets in 2012.
↑ Terrass appointed a new cabinet official on the 6th, the second from the right is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health Therese
During Johnson's tenure, Kwaten served as Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and pushed britain out of the European Union quickly. On the 4th local time, on the eve of the announcement of the conservative party leader's final election results, Kwaten wrote a promise that the government led by Terrass would act "in a fiscally responsible way" when it sought to reduce the burden of the people's cost of living crisis. It is reported that after being appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Kwaten held a meeting with some bank CEOs and will hold talks with the leaders of various banks on the 7th local time to try to control the stagnant British economy.
In addition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the new Foreign Secretary and The Home Secretary are also from minority groups. Foreign Secretary Clayverly is of mixed race, his father is British and his mother is from Sierra Leone. Clefley served as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party and openly discussed the party's need to work harder to win over black voters at Conservative party meetings. During Teras's tenure as foreign secretary, Clefley actually played the role of deputy at her side.
↑ Sura Braffman, a woman of Indian descent, was appointed the new Home Secretary
As the new Home Secretary, Brefman and his predecessor Patel were both Of Indian-British origin. Breffman's mother immigrated to The Uk from Mauritius in the 1960s, while her father was from Kenya. Notably, Brefman previously served as attorney general in the Johnson administration and is a staunch supporter of the British government's "deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda" plan.
"Excluding dissidents" when you take office?
Supporters of rival party rivals mostly left the table
There are reports that the appointment of the new cabinet breaks with the political tradition of britain's four major cabinet positions dominated by white men, and the "diversity" of the new cabinet members has won praise from some. Samuel Qasum, the Johnson administration's adviser on race affairs, said in an interview: "The new cabinet reminds us once again that people from all backgrounds can go further within the Conservative Party. Sander Kakwala, head of the UK Future, a think tank on immigration, said the pace of change was very fast, "We now see this diversity as normal." ”
Some dissenting analysts point out that, despite coming from different races, the new cabinet ministers appointed by Terrass may be all right-wingers. Shasta Aziz, a Labour MP, wrote last month that while all talk was being made about diversity and inclusion, conservative candidates of color and all those running for the campaign supported the party's right-wing immigration policy, which included deporting asylum seekers from the UK and sending them to Rwanda while their asylum applications were processed.
Another Labour MP, Martha de Cordoba, also argued that while Terrass' cabinet will be diverse, "it will be the most right-wing cabinet in people's minds, and its political agenda will attack the rights of working people, especially minorities." After Terrass announced the list of new cabinets, Aziz, the aforementioned mp, said: "In this country, it is not enough to appoint black or minority politicians as cabinet members." This is actually decorating the façade. ”
↑As a Sunak supporter, former Deputy Prime Minister Dominique Raab says he will return to the back-seater
While appointing loyal supporters and close allies, There are reports that Tras is removing members who support rival Sunak from key cabinet candidates, including former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab. During the contest between Tras and Sunak for the leadership of the Conservative Party, Raab sided with the latter, saying that Sunak "has the conditions to become prime minister". After Terrass won, Raab said he would return to the backseat.
In addition, former transport secretary Grant Sharps also claimed to be "a strong, independent voice" among the back-seaters, and Sharps had also supported Sunak as the new party leader during the campaign. In addition to Raab and Shapus, former Health Secretary Steve Buckley and former Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustis will return to the backslibber.
Despite missing key cabinet positions, many Conservative MPs expect Tras to appoint some Sunak supporters to lower-level ministerial positions, which will be announced later on September 7 local time. Sunak himself did not follow the tradition of "losing to the cabinet" and after losing to Terrass, he had indicated that he would not serve in Terrass's cabinet. Truss also reportedly had no intention of delaying him into the Cabinet.
There are reports that Sunak's supporters urged Terrass to appoint an "inclusive" cabinet rather than simply surrounding those loyal to him. Johnson has faced similar criticism that he was accused of appointing cabinet members based on loyalty rather than his personal ability. One lawmaker who supported Sunak said Terrass seemed determined to "create a sense of the beginning of a new chapter". The mp added: "But in the coming months, party governance will inevitably become a headache. ”
Red Star News reporter Hu Yiling
Edited by Guan Li Guo Yu
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