LONDON: Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel Retain Top Jobs As UK PM Shuffles Cabinet

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson on Wednesday undertook a reshuffle of his top team, keeping two of his
senior Indian-origin Cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel in their
posts.

Mr Sunak
will remain next door to Johnson at Downing Street as his Chancellor of the
Exchequer and Patel, who had been at the centre of some speculation of being
moved, remains in her post as Home Secretary.

Mr Sunak,
the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, has been in his post
since February last year and has led the UK’s financial response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Patel,
whose parents are of Gujarati-Ugandan descent, has been the Home Secretary
since July 2019.

However,
among the senior ministers being shuffled around include Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab, who accepted a demotion to take charge as the new Justice
Secretary, alongside his other roles of Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime
Minister.

Raab, who
came under fire in recent weeks over his handling of the aftermath of the fall
of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the evacuation efforts from Kabul, had been
at the centre of speculation about his future as the head of the Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – one of the top-most Cabinet posts
in the British government.

He has
been replaced by Liz Truss, promoted from her role of International Trade
Secretary. Earlier this week, she concluded the latest round of trade talks
with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Raab,
meanwhile, will instead step into the post previously held by Robert Buckland,
who was among three major sackings from the Cabinet, including Education
Secretary Gavin Williamson and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick.

Earlier,
Downing Street said Prime Minister Johnson would be reshuffling his top team to
“put in place a strong and united team to build back better from the
pandemic”.

The
process was launched soon after the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs)
session in the House of Commons, with news of the sackings coming in first
followed by fresh appointments of shuffled ministers.

Johnson
is expected to complete the reshuffle of his Cabinet on Wednesday, with changes
to lower ministerial ranks to be finalised on Thursday.

Gavin
Williamson was widely expected to be sacked after intense criticism over his
handling of disruption to schools and exams during the pandemic.

He
confirmed that he had left the role in a tweet, saying: “It has been a
privilege to serve as education secretary since 2019.

 “Despite the challenges of
the global pandemic, I’m particularly proud of the transformational reforms
I’ve led in Post 16 education: in further education colleges, our Skills
agenda, apprenticeships and more.”