As Liz Truss rose to power, Dominic Raab, Steve Barclay, Grant Shapps, Priti Patel, Nigel Adams and Nadine Dorries fell into the background. They were once loyal soldiers who came out to defend the indefensible on the morning rounds of the show and when taking urgent questions on vexing subjects in the Commons. But now, as one outgoing councilor put it, Malcolm Tucker’s withering rant about an MP in The Thick of It will ring in their ears: “You’re such a backbencher, you’re really down.” The pre-announced nature of the reshuffle meant that many knew their fate. Thérèse Coffey eagerly told officials at the Department for Work and Pensions on Monday about her impending promotion to deputy prime minister and her move to lead the Department of Health and Social Care – becoming the first woman to hold the post. Several of those waiting to face the steak drowned their sorrows in the dead light of a warm autumn evening on the Commons terrace, perched carelessly with their top buttons undone. Despite calls for party unity, Truss wasted no time in imposing punishments on those who had backed Rishi Sunak for the leadership. At the top of the list was Raab, who was named deputy prime minister and minister of justice. His warning last month that Truss’ tax plans were “electoral suicide” for the Tories was seen by her campaign as beyond the pale. He was a mainstay of the Johnson era, claiming during the Partygate scandal that a gathering of government workers in the Downing Street garden with cheese and wine did not breach Covid laws because the attendees were “all in suits”. Having served in the May and Johnson governments, and despite co-authoring a book with Truss, he is now out in the cold. Given his slim majority on a marginal 2,700 faced by the Lib Dems, he may spend more time with his constituents. Even closer to Johnson and outside the government was Barclay. He became chief of staff at No 10 while running the cabinet office in a last-ditch effort to professionalize the operation as the wheels came off, he was sent from his last post as health secretary. A government source claimed he had to be prodded several times in recent weeks to share updates on plans to protect the health service over the winter. Sapps, known as the “numbers man” for running the spreadsheet during the no-confidence vote in Johnson, has reached the end of the road as transportation secretary. All three waited until the bitter end as Truss told them their services were no longer required. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Some of Johnson’s staunchest supporters saw who the wind was and made sure to leave on their own terms. Patel, who failed to gather even enough supporters to launch a leadership bid at the start of the summer, announced on Monday that she is heading to the backbenches. Long criticized by her colleagues for not keeping her promise to reduce the number of people arriving by small boat across the Channel, Patel backdated her resignation letter to take effect the following day. Doris ever bowed out as culture secretary, but she couldn’t resist making sure everyone knew she’d been asked to stay on as Truss, but turned down the opportunity. Having angered her colleagues with her outspoken jabs during the leadership election, Dorris even hit out at fellow Tory MPs saying some of them despised her because of her accent. Another staunch Johnson ally to bow out was Adams – a lesser-known figure who helped run the whipping operation when the former prime minister’s support was near rock bottom in February. While Truss’ critics have pegged her as a “continuity candidate” and she has retained the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Kwasi Kwarteng and James Cleverly, the cast of characters around her will look and feel different. Sunak is also likely to fade into the background and Michael Gove – sacked by Johnson – seems happy to do the same. Some of those leaving the scene will enjoy a spell away from the limelight. Others will relish their newfound freedom to aim potshots at the government, still appearing regularly in the chamber, but from their newly formed mischievous corner. But one of the greatest fears of a former front-line politician is realizing how expendable they were. They won’t want to be spammed around or mocked by the next crop of shiny new things for trying to cling to relevance. They will have to reinvent themselves to have a chance at a political revival.
