Truss’s Cabinet pose for a last proud photo... then the axe fell

Day end came for Liz and 11 of her closest allies as team cut by third in one fell swoop

SMILING beside her colleagues, Liz Truss joined her Cabinet for one last photo before leaving No10 after just 44 days in power.

But the grins didn’t last for many of her ministers following a brutal clearout from Rishi Sunak.

The new Prime Minister sacked more than a third of his predecessor’s Cabinet in one of the first frenzied hours of his premiership.

First for the chop were Boris Johnson loyalists with Jacob Rees-Mogg ousted as business secretary and Simon Clarke removed as levelling-up secretary.

They were later joined on the backbenches by education secretary Kit Malthouse, Wales secretary Robert Buckland and environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena.

Sir Jake Berry was removed as Conservative Party chairman, Chloe Smith was sacked as work and pensions secretary, and Brandon Lewis lost his post as justice secretary.

Foreign minister Vicky Ford also got the boot and Alok Sharma will no longer be a minister or attend Cabinet but will remain Cop26 President.

And – in a move that surprised very few in Westminster – Wendy Morton was sacked as chief whip less than a week after the fracking vote sparked confusion over whether she’d resigned.

The ousting of 11 top ministers meant more than a third of Miss Truss’s Cabinet

‘Party must unite under new PM’

had been sacked, giving Mr Sunak space to shape a government in his own image. While some of those that were shown the door had been loyal to him, others had not supported his campaign to be Tory leader.

Mr Rees-Mogg once described Mr Sunak as the ‘much-lamented socialist chancellor’ – a comment he later took back. However, he said it was unlikely he would have been given a job in the new Cabinet before quitting his role.

Mr Clarke was loyal to Miss Truss but weighed in behind Mr Johnson’s failed second attempt to become prime minister. He said last night that his ‘loyalty’ to them was ‘sincere to the last’ but that the party ‘must unite under our new PM and should all work to ensure Rishi Sunak succeeds’.

Miss Smith was removed as DWP secretary despite supporting Mr Sunak in the leadership contest. However she said she was looking forward to supporting him from the backbenches.

Mr Buckland, a widely respected minister, had also backed Mr Sunak and said yesterday that he was ‘leaving the Government at my request’.

Reflecting on his time as party chairman, Sir Jake said that ‘all good things must come to an end’, adding: ‘I relish the opportunity to serve our great party and my constituents from the backbenches once again.’