Sunak faces backlash to Suella’s re-appointment

After Rishi Sunak completed his new look cabinet on Tuesday night, a Downing Street source declared that the shake-up of the front bench 'brings the talents of the party together'. The hope in No. 10 is that by keeping supporters of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in senior roles, Sunak will stand a better chance of achieving party unity. In that vein, James Cleverly – who campaigned for Truss over the summer and Johnson this weekend – stays as Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey – who is Truss's closest political ally – stays in cabinet, moving to Defra.

Yet no reshuffle really goes off without a hitch. Sunak is facing a backlash this morning over one of his appointments to a great office of state. Step forward Suella Braverman. Braverman has been re-appointed as Home Secretary just six days after she was forced to resign by Liz Truss over a security breach. Braverman sent a sensitive document to an MP who did not have permission to receive it. In her resignation letter, Braverman admitted to a technical breach of the ministerial code for sending the official document from her personal email. The backdrop to her dismissal was a row between Truss and Braverman over immigration, with Truss keen to relax the number of highly skilled immigrants coming to the UK and Braverman showing resistance.

Braverman's speedy return has led to criticism from both within the Tory party and from the opposition about whether due process has been followed and the appropriateness of bringing a politician back to a senior role so quickly. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has accused Sunak of putting party before country. 'Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos'. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a Cabinet Office inquiry into her re-appointment.

So, what's really behind Sunak's decision to bring Braverman back? His team will have been aware of the potential fallout from such a move – even if last week some Tories were criticising Truss's decision to force her out as an overreaction. Ultimately part of the reason behind Braverman's re-appointment is political. Sunak said he would form a team that represented all wings of the party. Having Braverman in the role of Home Secretary is viewed as key to keeping the right of the party on side.