Prime Minister Liz Truss has started appointing ministers to key positions in her Cabinet, hours after taking over at 10 Downing Street. Truss appointed a diverse Cabinet with not a single white man occupying one of the four great offices of state — prime minister, chancellor, home secretary or foreign secretary. In her top four posts, Liz Truss has appointed: Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, James Cleverly as foreign secretary, Suella Braverman as home secretary and Therese Coffey as deputy prime minister and health secretary There will be some new additions after she beat former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party's long leadership contest. But some familiar faces from the Cabinet of her predecessor Boris Johnson will remain, although most will be in different roles. Prominent backers of Truss's leadership rival Sunak are out of a job, including Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps. Earlier Truss said that her government would "transform Britain into an aspiration nation" and that "together we can ride out the storm" There have been plenty of sackings this evening but one man who has kept his role is Ben Wallace. He remains defense secretary, a post he has held since July 2019 and in which he has earned praise for his response to the Ukraine crisis. Once considered a favorite to succeed Boris Johnson, he surprised many by deciding not to stand in the leadership contest and backed Truss after she reached the last round. Penny Mordaunt has been appointed as the new leader of the House of Commons. In that role she'll be responsible for delivery of the government's legislative program. Mordaunt endorsed Liz Truss after nearly beating her into the final two of the Conservative leadership race. Nadhim Zahawi remains a Cabinet minister and is named the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is responsible for running the Cabinet Office, the department that supports the prime minister. It's one of three jobs given to Zahawi in Truss's new ministerial team. Brandon Lewis is in the Cabinet for a third time, replacing Dominic Raab who confirmed earlier Tuesday he would be returning to the backbenches. Lewis initially backed Zahawi for the leadership but endorsed Truss at the start of August. Wendy Morton has been given the role of chief whip in Truss's new government, responsible for party discipline. She is the first woman to hold the role in a Conservative government and will attend Cabinet. Meanwhile, Jake Berry has been named as the new minister without portfolio. Lord True has been named as the new leader of the House of Lords. The leader of the House of Lords is a cabinet role with responsibility for getting government business through the upper house. Truss made her first address to the British public outside No. 10 Downing Street on Tuesday evening, after she was formally appointed as Boris Johnson's successor by Queen Elizabeth II. Truss started her speech by paying tribute to her predecessor Boris Johnson, who left after a series of scandals. She said he would be remembered as the prime minister who "delivered Brexit, the COVID vaccine, and stood up to Russian aggression." "History will see him as a hugely consequential prime minister," Truss claimed. Turning to the challenges facing her new administration, Truss said many of the problems were as a result of the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and "Russia's appalling war in Ukraine." "Now is the time to tackle the issues that are holding Britain back. We need to build roads, homes and broadband faster," the new prime minister said. "We need more investment and great jobs in every town and city across our country. We need to reduce the burden on families and help people get on in life." Truss said that she would transform Britain into an aspirational nation with high paying jobs, safe streets and "where everyone has the opportunities they deserve," but did not unveil any new policies which might achieve all these goals. The prime minister said she would pursue three early priorities: No, 1, to "get Britain working again" with a "bold plan to grow the economy through tax cuts." She also said that she would ensure households aren't facing "unaffordable" energy bills, and build new hospitals, schools, roads and broadband infrastructure. Secondly, Truss said she would he "hands on" with the energy crisis this week, taking action to deal with high energy bills. And thirdly, Truss said she would take action to improve national health services. "By delivering on the economy, on energy and on the NHS. We will put our nation on the path to long term success," Truss added. "I am confident that together we can ride out the storm. We can rebuild our economy and we can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be. — Agencies
