Rishi’s reshuffle: the appointments

Rishi Sunak is Britain's third prime minister this year. On Tuesday, Sunak assembled a new top team with the hope of unifying the fractured party. The cabinet departures included Jacob Rees-Mogg among those heading to the back benches. As for the arrivals, Suella Braverman is back in the role of Home Secretary just under a week after being forced to resign over a security breach.

Here are the key developments:

• Jeremy Hunt has been reappointed as Chancellor. Suella Braverman is back as Home Secretary. Ben Wallace remains Defence Secretary and James Cleverly stays as Foreign Secretary. Dominic Raab is deputy PM and Justice Secretary.
•  Nadhim Zahawi is party chairman. Grant Shapps becomes Business Secretary. Penny Mordaunt remains Leader of the House of Commons. Gillian Keegan is Education Secretary. Thérèse Coffey is Environment Secretary. Steve Barclay confirmed as Health Secretary. Michael Gove is back as Levelling Up Secretary.
• Kemi Badenoch reappointed Trade Secretary but with women and equalities brief. Michelle Donelan reappointed Culture Secretary. Chris Heaton-Harris and Alister Jack stay at the Northern Ireland and Scotland Offices. David TC Davies goes to the Wales Office. Mark Harper becomes Transport Secretary. Gavin Williamson returns to government as Cabinet Office minister. Johnny Mercer, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick and Andrew Mitchell will attend cabinet. 
• Lord True reappointed as Leader of the Lords. Victoria Prentis becomes Attorney General, Jeremy Quin becomes Paymaster General and John Glen is appointed Jeremy Hunt's deputy.
• Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis are out.
• Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith have also resigned.
• Rishi Sunak used his first speech in Downing Street to say he would 'fix' the mistakes made by his predecessor, Liz Truss.
• Liz Truss used her final address as prime minister to defend her turbulent 49 days in power.

8.45pm Andrew Mitchell returns

James Forsyth writes... Andrew Mitchell, the former development secretary, is back in government, ten years after he left. The recall of Mitchell (he’ll attend cabinet as minister for development) gives the government some generational reach: he was first elected to parliament when Rishi Sunak was 7. He led a rebellion against Sunak when he, as Chancellor, tried to temporarily reduce the aid budget from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent of GDP, which raises an interesting question about whether Mitchell has demanded assurances on this front. Mitchell is also the fourth former chief whip who will be sitting around the cabinet table.

8.20pm He went away, he shut up, he’s back.

Katy Balls writes... Gavin Williamson is back. In one of the more controversial appointments of the reshuffle, the former defence secretary is returning to government as a minister of state – without portfolio – in the Cabinet Office. He will attend cabinet. Williamson was a key Sunak backer over the summer – leading the parliamentary campaign in which Sunak won the most backers of any candidate (before being overtaken by Truss later on). Now Williamson’s appointment will be the subject of criticism among some in the party – with many in the newer intakes critical of him over his spell in defence and education. However, Sunak is a politician who has been accused of not being political enough – it’s this that his team will be hoping Williamson can bring to the operation.

8.10pm Here come the vets

Steerpike writes... It’s not just Suella who is getting her old job back. Johnny Mercer, the one-man walking diary story, has returned to government for a third crack as the minister for veterans’ affairs. Mercer is famously passionate about the subject – a former veteran himself, he was ‘sacked by text’ in April last year because of his disagreements with the scope of the proposed Overseas Operations Bill, designed to protect former squaddies from vexatious claims. He returned to the role as Boris Johnson’s government fell apart in July and continue the role under Liz Truss from September. Will a third premier be the charm for Mercer and Rishi Sunak? Tom Tugendhat is also back as security minister in the Home Office, with both men also attending cabinet.

7.55pm Sunak rewards his backers

Katy Balls writes... Another Sunak loyalist is rewarded, John Glen is the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Glen is a long time ally of Sunak and supported him twice in his leadership bid. He is also regarded as a safe pair as hands – as the longest serving City minister until his recent dismissal. This appoint ought to send a positive signal to the markets – after Liz Truss’s first appointment to the role Chris Philp found himself heavily criticised in the wake of the not-so-mini-Budget.

James Heale writes... Mark Harper gets his reward for being a staunch reporter of Rishi Sunak in both leadership contests. He replaces Anne Marie Trevelyan as Transport Secretary – his first government post for more than six years. Harper is something of a veteran by the standards of this cabinet, which is disproportionately dominated by Sunak’s class of 2015 such as Dowden, Cleverly, Braverman, Prentis and Quin. 

Harper was elected in 2005 and most recently ran the Covid Recovery Group with Steve Baker which successfully saw off efforts for Covid passports. Ironically, Harper’s last government post was running the Whips’ Office for David Cameron prior to the EU referendum. It looks like he will be one of a number of chief whips in Sunak’s Cabinet with Michael Gove and Chris Heaton-Harris now holding the respective Levelling Up and Northern Ireland briefs.

7.40pm Sunak concludes his cabinet

James Heale writes... We are now into the later stages of the cabinet reshuffle: the great offices of state have been filled, as have the important public services of health, education and DWP. Sunak has had to take care in balancing his team with both popular members of Liz Truss’s administration like Ben Wallace and James Cleverly with ERG alumni such as Suella Braverman and David Davies. 

There are loyalists to be rewarded too and Victoria Prentis is certainly one of those, having been an early Sunak backer in both of this year’s leadership contests. Elected on the same day as the new PM in 2015, she has enjoyed a less rapid rise, serving two and a half years in Defra under Boris Johnson before a seven week spell as the minister of state for work and welfare under Johnson’s successor. A qualified barrister, she replaces Michael Ellis, who was often forced to defend Johnson’s administration in the House during partygate.

Her appointment is a reminder of the values of solid, sober service in junior ministerial office. The same can be said too of Jeremy Quin who, like, Prentis was one of the few Sunak backers given such a post under Truss. Another 2015-er, he is a veteran of the Whips’s Office during the Brexit years, serving as both a junior defence minister under Johnson and in the Home Office under Truss.

6.35pm Alister Jack stays on

Stephen Daisley writes... In retaining Alister Jack as Secretary of State for Scotland, Rishi Sunak follows in the footsteps of Liz Truss but Boris Johnson, who appointed him to the role in 2019 and to whom he was steadfastly loyal. Jack was a successful businessman before entering politics and has differed from most of his predecessors at the Scotland Office. He shows no interest in courting a hostile commentariat or genuflecting to the pieties of Scottish politics and civil society.

A Brexiteer, he has championed the UK Shared Prosperity Fund that replaced the previous EU funding arrangements. This has seen the UK government finance spending projects in Scotland directly, much to the chagrin of the SNP-run devolved government. He has also kept to the May-Johnson-Truss line that ‘now is not the time’ for another independence referendum, though the case currently before the Supreme Court could change that. Sunak’s decision to keep him in post confirms Jack’s reputation as a safe pair of hands in a constitutionally sensitive posting.

6.28pm Gove gets his way again

James Forsyth writes... Michael Gove is back as Levelling Up Secretary and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. Gove, widely regarded as the most effective Tory departmental minister of the last 12 years, was sacked from the job in the dying days of the Boris Johnson government. Liz Truss then very deliberately left him out of her cabinet.

Gove was one of the most prominent Tory critics of the mini-Budget. His statement on the BBC that he wouldn’t vote for the abolition of the 45p meant that Truss lost control of her party conference and had to U-turn on the policy. Within weeks, Truss was gone from office.

6.27pm Kemi gets to be culture warrior

Katy Balls writes... Kemi Badenoch has just been reappointed as International Trade Secretary. It points to how there is plenty of continuity in this reshuffle – Sunak is trying to show that his government is not one that calls for a new mandate, while also bringing together different wings of the party. What's new about Badenoch's role is that she has been made Minister for Women and Equalities. Under Boris Johnson, she worked on this brief with Liz Truss. The fact that Badenoch is now in charge could mean a clearer line on trans issues and identity politics.

6.25pm Barclay returns to health

Isabel Hardman writes... Steve Barclay’s return to health won’t necessarily delight everyone in the NHS. But he’s a good figure to have at the helm if you want to make cuts: he is very minded towards efficiencies. It’s worth pointing out, though, that when he was in the department over the summer, he didn’t find as much that could be cut as he had initially thought.

6.13pm Investors like what they see

Kate Andrews writes... Markets continue to respond positively to Prime Minister Sunak, with the cost of government borrowing now back down to around levels before the mini-Budget. But with markets so temperamental right now, nothing can be taken for granted.

None of Sunak’s appointments (so far) seems to have spooked investors. Indeed, the PM's decision to keep Jeremy Hunt on as chancellor will have doubled down on the confidence Sunak's presence is already creating. His more controversial appointment of Suella Braverman, back in the Home Office, suggests Sunak is not planning (as Truss was) to boost GDP figures by boosting immigration figures. What Sunak's growth agenda might be is a question for the days to come.

6.10pm Sunak decides Coffey is bad for health (but good for environment)

James Forsyth writes... Therese Coffey, Liz Truss’s deputy PM and closest friend in politics, stays in cabinet but as Environment Secretary, not Health Secretary. Coffey knows the department well; she has served two tours as a junior minister there. Perhaps just as importantly given the circumstances of this reshuffle, her presence sends out a message about the Tories trying to pull together after the divisions of the last few months.

6.05pm Select committee battle beckons

Steerpike writes...Mel Stride’s appointment at the DWP means another chairmanship election for the Treasury select committee. The opposition likes to use these contests to vote in Tory critics, with Alicia Kearns – an outspoken backbencher – being the latest example in the recent Foreign Affairs select committee vote. Now that a pro-Rishi anti-Truss MP is entering office, will we see a pro-Truss anti-Rishi MP replacing him? What better revenge for, say, Jacob Rees-Mogg or Priti Patel, than by grilling their rivals before a hostile Commons committee…

5.40pm What Keegan's appointment as Education Secretary suggests

James Forsyth writes...Gillian Keegan is the new education secretary, the fifth this year, which shows just how much churn there has been this year. She is, I think, the first person appointed today who has not served in cabinet before. The appointment suggests a desire to emphasise the importance of skills: Keegan was an apprentice who left school at 16 and has been the junior minister for apprenticeship and skills previously.

5.35pm Penny fails to land a promotion

Isabel Hardman writes...Nothing ventured, nothing gained. That hasn't turned out to be true for Penny Mordaunt after she stood for leader a second time in one year and yet finds herself once again in what is often considered the 'graveyard slot' of the cabinet: Leader of the Commons. Still, Sunak keeping her in the government will bolster his claim to be reaching across the party, including to those who stood against him. Given Mordaunt was keen to press her campaign all the way to the party membership if she'd managed to scrape through with the numbers, keeping her in the government might be seen as generous. 

She was in Downing Street for around an hour and left looking less than happy. For all the talk of party unity today, the new Prime Minister has just upset someone who rarely takes much care to be loyal to whoever is boss.

5.20pm Braverman's remarkable comeback

Steerpike writes...A week is a long time in politics. One minute you’re Home Secretary; the next, er, you’re back as Home Secretary. Incredibly, it is just six days since Braverman left the Home Office under Liz Truss. The following day, Truss announced she was quitting as PM: three days after that, Braverman supported Sunak as Truss’s successor. Two days on from that endorsement, Braverman is back as Sunak’s new Home Secretary. Even Craig David couldn’t accomplish that.

5.10pm Suella's return

Katy Balls writes...Is this the first upset of the reshuffle? Suella Braverman is back in the Home Office – just one week after she was forced to leave it. Braverman exited her role after a security breach regarding a sensitive document she sent to an MP. 

Behind the scenes a wider row was playing out between the then prime minister Liz Truss and Braverman on immigration. Truss wanted to relax migration numbers regarding some highly-skilled labour. Braverman meanwhile warned that the party must stick to its pledge to reduce migration. Her appointment suggests that Sunak leans more closely to the Braverman view point. It’s also worth noting that the moment when many MPs concluded Sunak would be the next prime minister was on Sunday when Braverman came out for Sunak over Boris Johnson. There was speculation at the time as to whether a deal had been done. Already Braverman's appointment is proving controversial among Tory MPs, let alone the opposition. Expect more questions regarding Braverman's handling of security matters to be raised in the coming days.

5.05pm Shapps and Suella are heading for a clash

Isabel Hardman writes...Grant Shapps moving to business secretary is the less gobsmacking change after Suella Braverman returned to the role she was sacked from just a week ago. Shapps will enjoy the business role and is, to put it mildly, more forward-looking than his predecessor Jacob Rees-Mogg. He has a tricky job, including when it comes to dealing with Braverman on immigration. She wants to drive the numbers down. Business secretaries tend to want to increase visas. 

5pm Sunak opts for stability in his reshuffle

James Forsyth writes...The holders of the three great offices of state – Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor, James Cleverly as Foreign Secretary and Suella Braverman as Home Secretary – are now the same as they were last Wednesday. This offers some stability given how much change there has been in British politics in the last six months.

4.55pm Sunak reaches out

Katy Balls writes...Nadhim Zahawi is the new party chairman, taking over from Jake Berry. Zahawi has been tipped for the role before. When Boris Johnson appointed Zahawi as education secretary and made  Dowden as party chairman, many MPs were surprised. They took the view that it would have been a better fit the other way around. There was talk that Dowden agreed. The other thing that's striking about Zahawi's appointment is how it plays into a theme of unity: Zahawi backed Truss and this weekend backed Johnson – so it can again be read as a sign of Sunak reaching out.

4.51pm Dowden's big job

James Forsyth writes...Oliver Dowden, Sunak’s close ally, will be the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. With both Number 10 and Cabinet Office experience, Dowden will be a key figure in this government: he is the man tasked with making the machine work. Tellingly, Dowden has been a vital figure in both of Sunak’s leadership bids and he will be one of the most important people in this government.

4.50pm The Forces’ Flashheart returns

Steerpike writes…Action stations, send out the signal to the fleet: ‘Wallace is back!’ The Lancashire MP returns to his post of Defence Secretary: Rishi Sunak is the third prime minister Wallace has served since 2019. Wallace is a popular favourite among the party faithful, having been a near-constant at the top of the ConservativeHome cabinet grassroot rankings since his appointment. However, while his handling of the Ukraine crisis has won widespread plaudits, Wallace and Sunak haven’t always enjoyed the closest of relationships. 

Back in July, during the first leadership race, Wallace came out heavily for Truss. He attacked Sunak for quitting the cabinet, writing in the Times that the British public would never have forgiven the Conservatives if the financial markets had crashed upon his resignation: a charge that hasn't exactly aged well. He also accused Sunak of trying to block 'vital' defence money during his time in the Treasury and suggested that his policies had undermined entrepreneurs. Funny what the prospect of high office does to a man…

Given the looming public cuts, just how safe is that commitment to increase defence spending to three per cent GDP by the end of the decade? Mr S looks forward to finding out.

4.40pm Wallace remains in charge at the MoD

Ben Wallace is staying as Defence Secretary. Wallace backed Truss in the summer and leaned toward Boris Johnson in this contest until he decided not to stand. Given the situation in Ukraine, and Wallace’s knowledge of it, this is clearly a sensible move. With Cleverly staying at the Foreign Office, there is stability in the two briefs most involved in handling the Ukraine crisis and dealing with Russian revanchism.

4.35pm Cleverly stays on at the Foreign Office

Katy Balls writes...Rishi Sunak's team have been clear that the new Prime Minister wants to lead a unity government. Despite that vow, loyal Truss backers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Simon Clarke have left cabinet. One prominent Truss supporter has kept a key role though. Step forward, James Cleverly, who stays on as Foreign Secretary. This is significant as Cleverly not only proved to be one of Truss's key cheerleaders during the summer contest, he also backed Boris Johnson this weekend – before the former prime minister declared that he would not throw his hat into the ring after all. It means Cleverly's appointment will be read as a sign that Sunak is willing to reach out. The severity of the situation in Ukraine means that Team Sunak believe now is not the time for instability.

4.30pm Hart in as Chief Whip

Katy Balls writes...Simon Hart has been confirmed as Chief Whip. As I reported earlier, the former secretary of state for Wales was viewed as the frontrunner for the role. Hart is viewed as a party loyalist. He served under Boris Johnson, eventually resigning the day before Johnson quit. He rowed in behind Sunak in the summer leadership contest. During the Theresa May era, he headed the 100-strong Brexit Delivery Group – made up of Tories who wanted to deliver Brexit but avoid no deal. It means that Hart has long been viewed as a pragmatist and team player.

4.20pm Recycling Raab

Steerpike writes…Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Dominic Raab marched up Downing Street moments ago. What awaited the karate-loving, beach-dwelling, Pret-munching Tory? The Home Office – a post Raab has long coveted – at long last, perhaps? 

No, it seems the spirit of COP26 is alive and well in Downing Street as Rishi Sunak has opted to recycle his ministers in an early sign of his green credentials. For Raab is returning in exactly the same two roles he left, er, just last month: Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary too. That means a British Bill of Rights – Raab’s pet passion project – could now be back on the table after being canned by Sunak’s predecessor Liz Truss. One thing’s for sure: not all at 102 Petty France – the home of the Ministry of Justice – are delighted to see the return of their former minister. Perhaps Raab can begin his welcome speech ‘... as I was saying before I was interrupted.’

4.10pm Raab's return

Dominic Raab is back in government as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary. Raab was sacked from government by Liz Truss, who he wrote a book with, after warning this summer that Truss's policies were an ‘electoral suicide note’. Returning to the Ministry of Justice means that Raab will be able to push on with his plans to reform the Human Rights Act.

Kate Andrews writes...Jeremy Hunt’s emergency announcement last Monday — which rolled back almost all of Truss’s mini-Budget — seemed just as much a pitch to be Sunak’s Chancellor as it was a bid to calm the markets. Hunt's insistence that ‘growth requires confidence and stability, and the United Kingdom will always pay its way’ was all about adopting fiscal discipline.

Hunt also echoed Sunak’s calls on the summer leadership campaign trail that borrowing for tax cuts risked serious consequences. Hunt rolled back the 1p income tax cut using Sunak’s logic. 

‘At a time when markets are rightly demanding commitment to sustainable public finances,’ he said, ‘it is not right to borrow to fund this tax cut.’

The combination of Hunt adopting Sunak-esque language on fiscal competence, combined with his calming, steady performance over the past 11 days (market reaction to Hunt’s statements has broadly been positive) has made it easier for Sunak to keep Hunt as Chancellor. This is a role Hunt would almost certainly not have been considered for had Sunak come into No. 10 under different circumstances. But keeping Hunt on will add to Sunak’s pledge to steady the ship and get the economic crisis under control.

3.50 pm The Sunak-Hunt combination

James Forsyth writes...Jeremy Hunt is staying as Chancellor. This appointment was expected: Hunt has impressed since starting in the role and there has been so much churn at the Treasury that having another Chancellor would have looked slightly ridiculous. The hope will be that the Sunak-Hunt combination can further calm the markets, with the 30-year gilt yields now back to where they were before the mini-Budget. We must wait to find out if the Halloween fiscal event is going ahead.

3.45pm Hunt keeps his job

Jeremy Hunt has been reappointed as Chancellor.

3.05pm The Sunak bandwagon rolls on

Mr Steerpike writes...Liz Truss’s tin ear has been replaced by Rishi Sunak's silver tongue but for all his talk of party unity, he has shown no compunction in moving against those who were not part of his weekend team. Both Jacob Rees-Mogg and Simon Clarke were enthusiastic supporters of Boris Johnson’s ill-fated 48-hour Dominican Republic dash. Both have now paid the price, with each man releasing a statement that sounds like it was read at gun point. Alok Sharma meanwhile was demoted from his cabinet post but retains the sinecure of COP president. How many others will pay the price for not boarding the Sunak bandwagon as it began to pick up speed?

3pm Simon Clarke – a victim of cake-ism?

Kate Andrews writes...Simon Clarke is out, no longer the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It was notable that Rishi Sunak paid lip service to ‘levelling up’ in his speech this morning, returning focus to the (still very vague) agenda that was so key under Boris Johnson’s premiership. It’s more evidence that Sunak is serious about revitalising the 2019 manifesto, an understanding that politically he has to stick, somewhat, to its guidelines. Of course Clarke was a big Truss-backer and came out supporting Boris Johnson in this weekend's leadership race, but he was also Sunak’s deputy in the Treasury. Clarke served as chief secretary to the Treasury from 2021 - 2022.

My loyalty to @trussliz and @BorisJohnson was sincere to the last and I appreciate deeply the opportunity they gave me. But I meant every word that I said yesterday: @Conservatives must unite under our new PM and should all work to ensure @RishiSunak succeeds. He has my support.

— Simon Clarke MP (@SimonClarkeMP) https://twitter.com/SimonClarkeMP/status/1584902633365667843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2022

In Clarke’s own words on Twitter this afternoon, he points out his ‘loyalty’ to Truss and Johnson, although he also doubles down on unity within the Conservative party. It’s likely that Clarke’s clear loyalty to two PMs who embraced the economic ideology of ‘cake-ism’ — a direct contrast to Sunak’s focus on fiscal discipline — will have played some role in the decision.

2.50pm Alok Sharma demoted

Alok Sharma has been demoted and is no longer a cabinet minister. Downing Street confirmed he will keep his position as president of COP and prepare for COP27.

2.45pm Simon Clarke out. Michael Gove in?

Katy Balls writes...The latest casualty of the reshuffle is Simon Clarke. The Levelling Up secretary has announced that he is leaving the role. Prior to that appointment, Clarke served as chief secretary to the Treasury where for a brief spell Rishi Sunak was his boss. Ultimately Clarke was one of Liz Truss's most prominent backers. It follows that for all the talk of reaching out with the reshuffle, a theme is developing of Sunak wanting to bring his own people in. There have been rumours today that Michael Gove could return to government. With Clarke's departure, there is now a vacancy in his old department.

2.40pm The challenge of finding room for everyone

James Forsyth writes...One of the challenges of this reshuffle is the sheer number of people who have been ministers and served in cabinet this year because of all the churn that we have seen. This means that, even more so than usual, there is a greater number of people who feel they deserve a spot at the table than there are places. This will make party management more complex – former cabinet ministers are particularly difficult to whip as both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss found.

2.35pm Bad blood potential

Katy Balls writes...So far there has been a string of resignations which is being taken as evidence that departing ministers have been given a chance to go gracefully rather than be pushed. However, not everybody is going without issue. The BBC reports that Kit Malthouse has left his role as education secretary after he was offered a demotion and refused it. It's a sign of how, for all the talk of unity from MPs across the party, this event still has plenty of potential for causing bad blood that will filter through from the back benches.

2.30pm The Malthouse compromise

Mr Steerpike writes...And so Kit Malthouse – the man who gave his name to a Brexit amendment and an unlikely leadership bid – has left the Department for Education. The civil servants there bidding him farewell are unlikely to feel too emotional: political attrition rates in the department now resemble the Western Front. Malthouse’s successor will be the sixth holder of the role in thirteen months: an average span of just 10 weeks. As the penpushers of Great Smith Street return to their desks post lunch, at least they can reflect on Malthouse securing one achievement: he outlasted Michelle Donelan, whose two-day tenure at the DfE in July is marked with an official portrait on the wall…

2.25pm Ranil Jayawardena departs DEFRA

Ranil Jayawardena has confirmed his departure as Environment Secretary in a letter to the new PM.

2.20pm Did Buckland jump before he was pushed?

Katy Balls writes...Robert Buckland is out. The Welsh Secretary has taken to social media to say that he has resigned. He will now spend his time on constituency work and issues relating to autism. Was it a case of jumping before he was pushed? This is after all the same Robert Buckland who backed Rishi Sunak over the summer only to then switch his support to Liz Truss around the time the polls showed she was clearly ahead. He belatedly backed Sunak this time around. However, it's fair to say Sunak's longer standing and more loyal backers take a dismal view of his behaviour. 'He is loathed,' says one Tory MP who backed Sunak over the summer. However, it seems Sunak's team are offering those who will not be given jobs a more graceful way out than simply sacking them.

2.15pm Jake Berry and Robert Buckland quit

Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry and Secretary of State for Wales Robert Buckland have both left government. Both confirm that they will continue to support Sunak from the back benches. 

It has been an honour to serve as the Conservative Party Chairman, but all good things must come to an end.

I relish the opportunity to serve our great party and my constituents from the backbenches once again.

— Jake Berry MP (@JakeBerry) October 25, 2022

2.05pm Kit Malthouse out as Education Secretary

Kit Malthouse has resigned from the Department for Education.

1.55pm Ford quits Foreign Office

Foreign Minister Vicky Ford has also resigned from government.

1.50pm Smith out at DWP

Chloe Smith has resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary.

1/ It has been a privilege to serve as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and I would like to thank all of the brilliant staff at @DWP for their dedication to helping people into work and protecting the most vulnerable.

— Chloe Smith (@NorwichChloe) October 25, 2022

1.30pm chief whip departs

James Forsyth writes...Wendy Morton has gone as chief whip. This is no great surprise, the chief whip nearly always changes with a new leader. Morton was involved in the fracking vote when the chaos over whether or not she had resigned did further damage to the authority of the Truss government.

Heading to the back benches from where I will continue to represent the constituents, businesses and communities of Aldridge-Brownhills.

— Wendy Morton MP (@morton_wendy) October 25, 2022

1.20pm Brandon Lewis out

Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis has confirmed his departure from government. In his resignation letter to the PM, Lewis vowed to support Rishi Sunak from the back benches.

An honour to have been one of the longest serving Cabinet ministers - having done eight ministerial roles, in five departments, under four Prime Ministers.

The new PM will have my support from the back benches to tackle the many challenges we face - as a Party and as a country. pic.twitter.com/ulZjpcHkWk

— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) October 25, 2022

1.15pm Simon Hart for chief whip?

Katy Balls writes...Who will be the new chief whip? It’s a key role in any government and is viewed as even more significant after the last few weeks. Liz Truss’s chief whip Wendy Morton quickly drew criticism from MPs for her blunt manner. A row over whipping was the final nail in the coffin for Truss when there was chaos during the fracking vote last week. I understand that Simon Hart is viewed as the frontrunner to be Sunak’s chief whip. He is a popular figure in the party and served as Wales secretary for Boris Johnson. He campaigned for Sunak over the summer.

1.10pm Rees-Mogg out

James Forsyth writes...The resignation of Jacob Rees-Mogg is no great surprise; he had made clear over the summer that he would not serve in a Sunak cabinet. Friends of Rees-Mogg are saying he’ll support the government from the backbenches. The extent to which he does will be an interesting metric of how prepared to unite the Tory party is.

1pm Rishi Sunak vows to fix things for Britain

Isabel Hardman writes...Fixing problems was the theme of the PM's entire address. Sunak said 'economic stability and confidence' would be central to his agenda and that there would be 'difficult decisions to come'. That was a nod to the cuts he and his Chancellor, presumably Jeremy Hunt, will be making to public spending in the coming weeks.

12.30pm Rishi Sunak’s first speech as PM

The Prime Minister used his opening speech to pay tribute to his predecessor, but vowed to 'fix' the mistakes she made while in office. He said:

'I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss. She was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble aim. And I admired her restlessness to create change. But some mistakes were made.'

10.30am Liz Truss's defiant farewell

Isabel Hardman writes...Liz Truss's final words as Prime Minister were not just an attempt to set out what she sees as being the 'legacy' from her 49 days in power. They were also the outgoing Conservative leader's last chance to argue that what she had done was in the national interest, rather than the chaotic experiment that her opponents have characterised her economic policies as.

Follow all the latest as it unfolds on Coffee House.