Six questions Rishi Sunak must answer in appointing his cabinet

Rishi Sunak has one chance to get his top team right. 

This is not a reshuffle (they are usually tweaks and tinkering). And by sacking or demoting colleagues, a prime minister can create enemies.

Today is instead an opportunity to do something far bigger – build a new government from scratch, ideally one that lasts until the next general election.

Sunak prepares to address nation as Truss holds final cabinet – new PM latest

Life has come fast at Mr Sunak in recent days, but he had six weeks during the summer leadership contest to consider who he might appoint to which department.

There are six key questions he should have considered:

What message does he want to send to his party and the country?

The last two prime ministers prioritised loyalty, but early signs suggest Mr Sunak prizes competence.

Expect a more meritocratic approach – partly to ensure effective government, but also to unite the disparate factions on the government benches.

However, after such a resounding victory, Mr Sunak has the power to ditch nobler aims and be utterly ruthless.

Who does he keep?

Jeremy Hunt in the Treasury and Ben Wallace at the Ministry of Defence are the cabinet ministers most likely to stay in post.

Yet Mr Wallace’s keenness to keep defence spending at 3% of GDP in straitened times may count against him.

Mr Sunak could allow his ally Grant Shapps to remain running the Home Office, although Dominic Raab is reported to have eyes on that job.

Most of Liz Truss’s ill-fated team are likely to be cleared out. A few may appear in new departments.

3) What does Rishi Sunak do with the two leadership rivals he has crushed?

Penny Mordaunt is likely to be offered a more senior job than her current post as leader of the Commons. She is said to have designs on the Foreign Office.

As for Boris Johnson, allies of Mr Sunak have insisted he has a role to play in public life “domestically and internationally”. But is now the time?

In the golden year post-premiership, Mr Johnson may prefer to earn hundreds of thousands a pop making corporate speeches than run a government department.

Does Liz Truss deserve a shot at redemption?

Polling suggests she remains utterly toxic with voters. It is hard to imagine Mr Sunak would be keen to have his predecessor’s face selling any part of his policy agenda.

Reports suggest she may now “take a break” from frontline politics.

To whom has the PM promised jobs?

In the shady horse-trading of leadership races, we may never find out what – if anything – has been offered to whom.

Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch’s consequential endorsements over the weekend could lead them to getting ministerial gigs.

Ms Badenoch is understood to be keen to stay at International Trade.

How do you reward loyal lieutenants?

Many MPs put in a lot of legwork during Mr Sunak’s first abortive leadership effort.

Mr Raab repeatedly hit the airwaves for his man, and described Ms Truss’s economic proposals as an “electoral suicide note”.

Mel Stride led the campaign, and former chief whip Gavin Williamson is said to have been invaluable behind the scenes.

The difficult reality for the new prime minister is that he has far fewer cabinet jobs to dole out than Conservative MPs who think they are owed one.

Many will be left disappointed tonight.