The new prime minister has assembled a top team of close allies, including Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and James Cleverly as foreign secretary, with hard-right Suella Braverman – a supporter of leaving the European Court of Human Rights – becoming home secretary and Therese Coffey appointed the UK’s first female deputy prime minister, as well as health awareness. Jacob Rees-Mogg became business secretary after taking part in talks with energy firms over a package of measures to tackle the cost of living crisis, due to be unveiled on Thursday and expected to include a £2,500 price freeze for households costing £90bn .as well as additional help for businesses. A former minister told The Independent of fears Ms Truss was creating a “council of cronies”, putting her personal faith ahead of the skills needed at a time of almost unprecedented crisis. And former veterans minister Johnny Mercer accused her of favoring friends as she was sacked, along with Sunak’s prominent cabinet supporters Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Steve Barclay and George Eustice. The appointments meant that for the first time in UK history, none of the four great offices of state is held by a white man, in a move hailed by Tories as a blow to “meritocracy”. However, the former minister said he was “worried she is putting together a cabinet of cronies, which will give her the same problems that Boris Johnson had – in the end, people felt they didn’t need to support him”. The minister added: “Many people hoped it would be more inclusive. There are capable people who should be in the cabinet who won’t be, and we need the most capable people we can get at a time of such enormous challenges.” Shadow cabinet minister Peter Kyle said the decision to send heavy hitters from previous Tory administrations to the back tables was a sign of deep fissures in Ms Truss’s party. “The Tory party is now ungovernable and incapable of governing,” he said. Ms Truss put her stamp on government within minutes of reaching No 10 after being appointed the UK’s third female prime minister by the Queen at Balmoral. Speaking on the steps of her new residence during a brief break between storms, she acknowledged that the country faces difficult times ahead, but said: “We must not be daunted by the challenges we face. “However strong the storm, I know the British people are stronger. Together we can weather the storm, we can rebuild our economy.” Borrowing a phrase coined by David Cameron in 2012, she said she would use tax cuts and reforms to create a “nation of ambition”, naming the economy, the energy crisis and the NHS as her top three priorities. He spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reiterate the UK’s “firm support”. And he received a call from US President Joe Biden, who reminded the new prime minister – who has tabled legislation to scrap Northern Ireland’s protocol on post-Brexit border arrangements – of the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement. While a disappointed Mr Mercer was limited to remarking that Mrs Truss was “entitled to reward her supporters”, his wife Felicity revealed she had confronted the Prime Minister in her Commons office over her decision to reject him. In a tweet illustrated by a Muppet under a ‘Liz for Leader’ banner, Mrs Cornelius-Mercer said her husband had received no response when he asked the new prime minister: “Who will be better in this role than me, which of your mates gets the job? You promised meritocracy.” “This system stinks and treats people horribly,” said the Plymouth MP’s wife. “The best man I know was fired by a fool.” Meanwhile, green groups have expressed concern that Mr Rees-Mogg has been given direct responsibility for energy and climate change. Friends of the Earth called the appointment “deeply worrying”, pointing to Mr Rees-Mogg’s recent proposal that “every last drop” of oil and gas should be extracted from the North Sea. And Labour’s climate change spokesman Ed Miliband accused him of seeking to undermine climate change science and making the wrong calls on issues such as fracking. Liberal Democrat cabinet spokeswoman Christine Jardine said: “Less than 100,000 people voted for Liz Truss to lead our country, but instead of seeking consensus, she has left for a cabinet that will only please the right wing. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a climate change denier, is unthinkable to be tasked with protecting the planet during a climate emergency.” Other appointments included former leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt as leader of the Commons and Kemi Badenoch as international trade secretary. The confirmation of Ms Truss as the UK’s 56th prime minister and the third woman to hold the post followed a raucous early morning farewell speech by Mr Johnson, who wrongly claimed the rules had been changed to remove him from office. The outgoing prime minister pledged his “warm” support for his successor, but undermined his own claim to be leaving the political front for good by comparing himself to the Roman general Cincinnatus, who was summoned from his farm to take over dictatorial rule in a period of crisis.
