Johnson sweeps out May’s cabinet

Brexit loyalists rewarded amid ministerial purge

LONDON • Boris Johnson carried out the biggest cabinet cull in almost 60 years Wednesday as he promoted Brexit loyalists to help him get Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31, “no ifs or buts.”

The new prime minister, who had recently said his favourite film moment was the “retribution scene” in The Godfather, staged his own political massacre as 17 ministers either resigned or were sacked.

Among those fired in a breathtakingly swift transition were Jeremy Hunt, who was shown the door after refusing a demotion, and nine ministers who had supported the outgoing foreign secretary in the leadership race.

In their place, Johnson packed the cabinet with loyalists and Brexiteers, including Dominic Raab, who becomes both foreign secretary and Johnson’s de facto deputy; Priti Patel, who is the new home secretary; and Sajid Javid, who becomes chancellor.

Johnson also buried the hatchet with Michael Gove, the man who scuppered his 2016 leadership bid, by keeping him in the cabinet as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibility for co-ordinating no-deal planning. It means three of the four most senior roles in government are filled by former members of the Vote Leave campaign in Johnson, Raab and Patel, while Gove, who ran the campaign with Johnson, is also close to the centre of power.

Dominic Cummings, the Vote Leave director credited with masterminding the 2016 referendum result, becomes Johnson’s deputy chief of staff.

In his first speech as prime minister, Johnson pledged to deliver Brexit by Oct. 31. He said the “doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters” of Brexit were wrong, as he told them: “The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts ... After three years of unfounded self-doubt it is time to change the record; to recover our natural and historic role as an enterprising, outward-looking and truly global Britain, generous in temper and engaged with the world.

“No one in the last few centuries has succeeded in betting against the pluck and nerve and ambition of this country. They will not succeed today.”

He said he would begin by putting another 20,000 police on the streets, cutting waiting times to see doctors, upgrading 20 new hospitals, fixing the social care crisis and improving standards in education.

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, ruled out bringing a confidence vote in Johnson’s government until at least September.

It comes as “a minimum of 40” Tory MPs are braced to rebel against the government to block a no-deal Brexit after Remain-backing ministers quit before Johnson entered Downing Street.