Rishi Sunak claims new cabinet ‘reflects a unified party’ as Suella Braverman and Michael Gove make shock comebacks
Rishi Sunak has reinstated Suella Braverman as home secretary only six days after she resigned, in a cabinet reshuffle which Downing Street said “reflects a unified party”.
Ms Braverman, a favourite of the Conservative right, stepped down last Wednesday after admitting to sending secure government information from her personal email and being accused of breaching the ministerial code.
Labour’s Yvette Cooper accused the new PM of putting “party before country” in reinstating her in one of the four great offices of state.
“Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos,” she said.
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Elsewhere in his new cabinet, Mr Sunak culled many of those who had featured in Ms Truss’s top team – including former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and former justice secretary Brandon Lewis – while rewarding his allies with cabinet roles.
His closest ally Oliver Dowden was rewarded with a promotion to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, loyalist Mark Harper was handed the role of transport secretary and Mr Sunak’s leadership campaign manager Mel Stride was given the work and pensions brief.
But there was an element of continuity with the previous administration, with James Cleverly kept on as foreign secretary and Ben Wallace as defence secretary.
Mr Sunak also revived the careers of experienced frontbenchers including Dominic Raab and Michael Gove, who was sacked by Boris Johnson in the dying days of his government after urging him to stand down.
Mr Raab was named as deputy prime minister and justice secretary, roles he held under Mr Johnson before he was sacked by Ms Truss.
Mr Gove returns as levelling up secretary, a job he held before his dismissal.
Sir Gavin Williamson makes a surprise return as cabinet office minister without portfolio, having been kicked out of government in 2019 when he was defence secretary over a National Security Council leak and then sacked as education secretary in 2021 for his handling of the pandemic’s impact on schools.
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Suella Braverman returns to her role of home secretary
Another to return to the frontbenches is the former housing secretary Robert Jenrick who was appointed immigration minister.
Penny Mordaunt came out of the new cabinet as leader of the Commons, failing to win a promotion after she challenged Mr Sunak for the leadership.
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Mr Sunak confirmed he would be keeping Jeremy Hunt in position as chancellor in an attempt to reassure the financial markets after saying in his first speech outside Number 10 that he would fix the “mistakes” of his predecessor.
In a six-minute speech after he was officially appointed PM by King Charles, he said the UK was facing a “profound economic crisis” and prepared the nation for “difficult decisions” as he criticised his predecessor’s record.
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In his maiden address Rishi Sunak said: ‘I will fix mistakes’
A Number 10 source said that Mr Sunak’s cabinet “brings the talents of the party together”.
“It reflects a unified party and a cabinet with significant experience, ensuring that at this uncertain time there is continuity at the heart of government,” the source said.
“The hard work begins now and together, the prime minister’s new cabinet will deliver for the British people.”
On Tuesday evening, seeking to distance himself from Ms Truss, Mr Sunak spoke to both Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford.
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The PM said he “emphasised” their duty to work closely together, while Ms Sturgeon described the conversation as “constructive”.
His predecessor had not spoken to either leader during her brief spell in office.
Mr Sunak also spoke to US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in his first few hours as PM.
On Wednesday morning, Sky News understands the new PM will hold the first meeting of his cabinet before, at noon, he goes head-to-head with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.
He will then begin work on tackling the cost of living crisis and rebalancing the country’s finances, with decisions needing to be quickly made on what extra help may be required to help the most vulnerable.
The new PM will need to confirm whether his government will be pressing ahead with its fiscal statement on Monday.
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How ‘profound’ are our economic woes?
Mr Sunak became the UK’s first PM of Asian heritage and the youngest for more than 200 years when he was asked to form a government by the King at Buckingham Palace.
He entered Downing Street after winning the Conservative leadership contest on Monday, after Mr Johnson and Ms Mordaunt withdrew before a single vote was cast.
Mr Johnson, who was tipped to make a comeback less than two months after resigning as PM, offered his congratulations to Mr Sunak after his Downing Street address.
It is expected that Mr Sunak will finalise his government on Wednesday by appointing junior ministers.
Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a spokesperson for the royal has said.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, visited the city at the invitation of the Ukrainian government.
The Duke of Sussex travelled to the capital to help with the recovery of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war with Russia.
Pic: Railway of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia/AP
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will also be travelling to Kyiv on Friday in what will be her first foreign trip since being appointed to the job last week.
Her visit coincides with the UK launching a new package of Russia-related sanctions targeting ships carrying Russian oil as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons.
It comes as Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on on NATO’s doorstep on Friday, just two days after Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace.
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Drones shot down in Poland
The Zapad-2025 exercise – a show of force by Russia and its close ally – will involve drills in both countries and in the Baltic and Barents seas, the Russian defence ministry said.
Meanwhile on the frontline, Russian defence systems intercepted and destroyed 221 Ukrainian drones overnight,
including nine over the Moscow region, the ministry said on Friday.
The duke told the Guardian while on an overnight train to Kyiv: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.
“We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through.
“We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
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Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, previously travelled to Ukraine in April, when he visited war victims as part of his work with wounded veterans.
The prince visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopaedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians.
Earlier this week, Harry said the King is “great” after he reunited with him at Clarence House for a private tea.
It was their first meeting in 19 months and lasted just 54 minutes.
The last time the father and son saw each other was in February 2024 when the prince flew to the UK after the monarch announced his cancer diagnosis.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have lived in California since they quit roles as senior working royals in March 2020.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has been sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat.
The far-right politician, who ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, is currently under house arrest in the capital, Brasilia.
A panel of five Supreme Court justices handed down the sentence several hours after they found the 70-year-old guilty on five counts.
The counts were trying to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, attempting violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, being implicated in violence, and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
Bolsonaro‘s lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict.
Pic: AP
The ruling will deepen political divisions in Brazil and is also likely to prompt a backlash from the United States government – with Donald Trump already sharing his thoughts on the vote.
President Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, has said he was surprised and “very unhappy” with the decision.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said he always found Bolsonaro “outstanding” and said the conviction is “very bad for Brazil”.
Mr Trump previously called the case a “witch hunt”, slapped Brazil with tariff hikes, and revoked US visas for most members of Brazil’s high court.
Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
He has not attended the court proceedings, and on Thursday, he was seen at the garage of his property, but did not talk to the media.
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Justice Carmen Lucia. Pic: AP
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has been overseeing the case, said on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organisation, and voted in favour of convicting him. Justices Flavio Dino, Carmen Lucia, and Cristiano Zanin sided with Justice Moraes in the trial.
On Wednesday, another justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed and voted to acquit the ex-president of all charges.
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Justice Lucia said she was convinced by the evidence the attorney general’s office put forward against Bolsonaro, saying: “He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power.”
Bolsonaro had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a different case.
He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next year.
The FBI and officials have released new video and images of a “person of interest” in connection with the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as the manhunt continues.
At a news conference on Friday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox showed video footage showing the suspect walking on the roof of the building from where the fatal shot was fired. He is then seen climbing down and heading toward a wooded area, where police say he abandoned his rifle.
Additional images released by police show the suspect wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a backpack.
Investigators have conducted nearly 200 interviews related to the case as 20 law enforcement partners are working on the investigation, Governor Cox said.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the attacker, he said.
Follow the latest updates on Charlie Kirk’s killing
Authorities have released additional images of the attacker. Pic: Utah Public Safety
Earlier, authorities said the shooter was thought to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighbourhood after firing one shot.
They also said the suspect was a male who “appears to be of college age” and blended in on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, where Mr Kirk was killed.
Mr Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing influencer, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday afternoon while speaking to university students at an event. He died in hospital after being shot.
Charlie Kirk hands out hats before speaking at Utah Valley University where he was later fatally shot. Pic: AP
The rifle suspected of being used in the shooting has been found.
In a briefing on Thursday, FBI agent Robert Bohls said: “I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday’s shooting… is a high-powered bolt action rifle.
“That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon.”
Investigators have collected a footwear impression, a palm print, and forearm imprints for analysis.
Authorities have released additional images of the attacker. Pic: Utah Public Safety
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The father-of-two was the chief executive and co-founder of Turning Point USA, a prominent organisation that engages conservative youth on school campuses.
He had millions of followers across social media.
Mr Kirk and Turning Point USA played a key role in driving youth support for Mr Trump in last November’s presidential election. His events at college campuses nationwide typically drew large crowds.
Many people listened both in person and online to Mr Kirk, as he advocated for conservatism among younger generations and became a leading voice in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to Mr Kirk while on stage at a 9/11 memorial event in Virginia, saying he would be awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Authorities have released additional images of the attacker. Pic: Utah Public Safety
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“Before we begin, let me express the horror and grief so many Americans at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt,” Mr Trump said.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people. Our prayers are with his wonderful wife, Erika, and his beautiful children.”
He later added the FBI was making “big progress” in finding the shooter and he has “an indication” of the motive, but declined to expand.
“He’s an animal, total animal, hopefully they’ll have him and they’ll get him.”
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