Truss’ new Cabinet is highly unique in British politics. It is easily the most diverse Cabinet, with heritage ranging from Ghana, India and Sierra Leone. However, it is also a first for lack of opposition, even compared to Johnson’s cabinet of ‘nodding dogs’.
Truss’ Cabinet needs to reinvigorate the Conservative party, the UK’s economy and Britain’s position on the global stage. But with constant reshuffles and limited experience, the UK is less likely to look like “Singapore-on-Thames” but instead return to a perpetual position of the “sick man of Europe”
Therese Coffey:
Therese Coffey is not only one of Truss’ most senior Cabinet ministers, earning the positions of both Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary, but also one of her longest serving MPs. Coffey has held the seat for Suffolk Coastal since her first win in 2010, joining parliament in the same year as the current PM.
Previously, the new Health Secretary has been criticised after photos emerged of her drinking champagne and “chomping on cigars”. Following the backlash, she stated, “it’s not a photo I’m proud of”
“I appreciate I may not be the role model but… my focus is on patients and that’s what I’ll be making sure my department will be focusing on too”
Therese Coffey
Coffey’s plan to fix the NHS crisis feature “ending the 8am scramble” and her “ABCD plan” (ambulances, backlog, care, doctors and dentists). However, without a concrete plan to fill the mass job vacancies in the NHS, many are sceptical about the effectiveness of her new policy.
Kwasi Kwarteng:
Kwasi Kwarteng, Johnson’s former business secretary turned Truss’ Chancellor, has inherited an onslaught of problems following his promotion. Britain’s zeitgeist is currently one of rail strikes and soaring energy prices, to counter this, Kwasi needed to implement strong and stable economic policies. However, his first “fiscal event” created the opposite effect.
The MP for Spelthorne has shown his belief in “trickle-down economics” (a theory publicly renounced by President Biden). Announcing plans to remove the cap on banker’s bonuses and challenge “militant trade unions”, Kwarteng’s Budget uses trickle-down economic ideals to substantiate increasing wealth at the top of the economic ladder while limiting growth at the bottom.
“I am sick and tired of trickle-down economics. It has never worked. We’re building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.”
President Joe Biden
Directly following the Chancellor’s Budget, the pound plummeted to its lowest value compared to the dollar in history. As a consequence, Kwarteng was removed from Cabinet after only 38 days in the position.
Jacob Rees-Mogg
From lounging across benches in the Commons to filibustering a private members bill by reading poetry, Jacob Rees-Mogg is the subject of recurring controversy and commentary in British politics. And yet, he is one of very few Cabinet ministers returning from Johnson’s Cabinet.
Mogg’s promotion to business and energy minister has been questioned by many due to his history of “climate denialism“.
“We must get every square inch (cubic inch)… of gas out of the North sea”
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Since becoming business Secretary, Mogg has asserted his plan to increase fracking across the UK, an idea that is opposed by, the inventor of fracking, Chris Cornelius, among others.
While Truss claimed to be the “Thatcherite candidate” during the Conservative leadership race, she’s running a “Cabinet of crumbs” rather than a Thatcheresque “purge of the wets” as she continues to bring ministers from the right-wing edges of the party. Moreover, Jeremy Hunt’s recent appointment to replace Kwarteng undermines any image of a progressive and radically diverse makeup of Government.
The Prime Minister’s Cabinet is unapologetically ideological in its vacancy of ‘big beasts’ and opposition despite the new one-nation chancellor. In an era of ceaseless crisis in both domestic and foreign affairs, the UK needs an efficient and adaptable government. And yet, Truss’ Cabinet is far more likely to breed discontent than ensure stability.