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Rishi Sunak fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she defied his authority over handling of a pro-Palestinian march and was accused of emboldening a far-right counter-protest which turned violent on Saturday.
The premier appointed James Cleverly to replace her, moving from the foreign office. An official familiar with the matter said the move is part of a broader Cabinet reshuffle.
In an unexpected move, former Prime Minister David Cameron was confirmed as the new foreign secretary shortly after being filmed entering 10 Downing Street.
Sunak had appointed the pugilistic Braverman to his government to mollify the right fringe of his party when he became prime minister just over a year ago. But an awkward political alliance was increasingly a liability as Braverman’s language became more strident. Her remark that homeless people sleep on streets as a “lifestyle choice” also angered Tories in recent days.
But the breaking point appeared to come after Braverman accused London’s Metropolitan Police of bias in a newspaper commentary last week. That came just hours after Sunak had appeared to resolve an escalating political row with the force’s commissioner about pro-Palestinian protests overlapping with annual events to commemorate Britain’s war dead.
Her intervention was blamed for drawing out far-right groups that clashed with officers during counter-protests in London and led to 145 arrests. Two Cabinet members on Sunday described the challenge to the prime minister’s authority as untenable, while the Labour Party accused her of inflaming tensions.
Ousting her is likely to lead to Braverman becoming a fierce critic of the administration at a crucial time. The UK Supreme Court is due to rule on Wednesday on the legality of the government’s plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda, a plan championed by both Braverman and Sunak.
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