# November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carried out the second cabinet reshuffle of his premiership on 13 November 2023. Suella Braverman was replaced as Home Secretary by James Cleverly. Cleverly was replaced as Foreign Secretary by the former Prime Minister David Cameron, who was made a life peer as Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton.

## Changes

Amid rising tensions the previous week, Sunak sacked Suella Braverman from her position as Home Secretary on 13 November 2023. She had previously been sacked from the same position by Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss in October 2022. According to The Guardian, the trigger for her sacking was an article she wrote and published in The Times on 8 November 2023, which included a statement that there was "a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters" and were tougher on rightwing extremists than pro-Palestinian "mobs". The Guardian reported that the Prime Minister's office had asked for changes to be made to the article, but not all were implemented. She was replaced by the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
With the foreign secretary's office falling vacant, party grandee Lord Hague reportedly negotiated a deal between Sunak and the former Prime Minister David Cameron that saw Cameron appointed Foreign Secretary. Since Cameron had resigned from parliament on 12 September 2016, it was announced on the morning of the reshuffle that he would be appointed to a life peerage. He is the first foreign secretary to serve from the House of Lords since Lord Carrington (1979–1982) and the first former prime minister to return to Cabinet since Alec Douglas-Home (1970–1974). Following the appointment of Cleverly as Home Secretary and Cameron as Foreign Secretary, all four Great Offices of State are held by men for the first time since 2010.
The Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey announced that she had resigned after serving in the government since 2014 under five prime ministers. Coffey was replaced by the Health Secretary Steve Barclay, with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins being promoted to Health Secretary.
The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Jeremy Quin stated that, despite being asked to continue to serve in government, he had resigned from his positions. He was replaced by John Glen, with Laura Trott being promoted to Glen's former position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Richard Holden was appointed Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio following Greg Hands' demotion to Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.
The backbencher Esther McVey was appointed Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office.

## Cabinet-level changes

| Minister | Position before reshuffle | Position after reshuffle |
| Suella Braverman | Home Secretary | Dismissed from the government |
| James Cleverly | Foreign Secretary | Home Secretary |
| David Cameron | None | Foreign Secretary |
| Thérèse Coffey | Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Resigned from the government |
| Steve Barclay | Secretary of State for Health and Social Care | Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| Victoria Atkins | Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Secretary of State for Health and Social Care |
| Jeremy Quin | Minister for the Cabinet Office Paymaster General | Resigned from the government |
| John Glen | Chief Secretary to the Treasury | Minister for the Cabinet Office Paymaster General |
| Laura Trott | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions | Chief Secretary to the Treasury |
| Greg Hands | Chairman of the Conservative Party Minister without Portfolio | Minister of State for Trade Policy Minister for London |
| Richard Holden | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport | Chairman of the Conservative Party Minister without Portfolio |
| Esther McVey | Backbench MP | Minister without portfolio |

## Junior ministerial changes

| Minister | Position before reshuffle | Position after reshuffle |
| Nick Gibb | Minister of State for Schools | Resigned from the government |
| Damian Hinds | Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation | Minister of State for Schools |
| Laura Farris | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Victims and Safeguarding |
| Neil O'Brien | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health | Resigned from the government |
| Andrea Leadsom | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care |
| Will Quince | Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care | Resigned from the government |
| Andrew Stephenson | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care |
| Jesse Norman | Minister of State for Transport | Resigned from the government |
| Rachel Maclean | Minister of State for Housing and Planning | Dismissed from the government |
| George Freeman | Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation | Resigned from the government |
| Lee Rowley | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety | Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety |
| Jo Churchill | Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | Minister of State for Employment |
| Andrew Griffith | Economic Secretary to the Treasury | Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation |
| Nigel Huddleston | Minister of State for International Trade | Financial Secretary to the Treasury |
| Paul Scully | Minister for London Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy | Dismissed from the government |
| Bim Afolami | Backbench MP | Economic Secretary to the Treasury |
| Gareth Bacon | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sentencing |
| Saqib Bhatti | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy |
| Anthony Browne | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport |
| Simon Hoare | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities |
| Fay Jones | Assistant government whip | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales |
| Paul Maynard | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions |
| Robbie Moore | Backbench MP | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| Guy Opperman | Minister of State for Employment | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport |
| Stuart Anderson | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | Vice-Chamberlain of the Household |
| Amanda Milling | Backbench MP | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury |
| Joy Morrissey | Assistant government whip | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury |
| Mike Wood | Backbench MP | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury |
| Lord Gascoigne | Backbench Peer | Lord-in-waiting Government Whip |
| Lord Mott | Lord-in-waiting Government Whip | Left the government |
| Aaron Bell | Backbench MP | Assistant government whip |
| Mark Fletcher | Backbench MP | Assistant government whip |
| Mark Jenkinson | Backbench MP | Assistant government whip |
| Suzanne Webb | Backbench MP | Assistant government whip |
| Lord Benyon | Minister of State for Biosecurity, Marine and Rural Affairs | Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy |
| Earl of Minto | Minister of State for Regulatory Reform | Minister of State for Defence |
| Baroness Vere of Norbiton | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation, Maritime and Security | Parliamentary Secretary in HM Treasury |
| Lord Davies of Gower | Lord-in-waiting Government Whip | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport |
| Baroness Penn | Parliamentary Secretary in HM Treasury | Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities |
| Baroness Goldie | Minister of State for Defence | Left the government |
| Trudy Harrison | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Land Use | Resigned from the government |
| Lord Murray of Blidworth | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Borders | Left the government |
| James Davies | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales | Left the government |
| Julie Marson | Assistant government whip | Resigned from the government |
| Steve Double | Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | Resigned from the government |
| Sarah Dines | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding | Dismissed from the government |

## Reaction

Reactions to the reshuffle focused to a considerable extent on Cameron's "surprise" return to frontline politics. The Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall asked the Works and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride about unemployment, saying "it turns out the government can get the over 50s back to work, just only if they are former prime ministers". Addressing the House of Commons during the debate on the King's Speech, the Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting asked, "What kind of message does it send their constituents that their own party leader cannot find a suitable candidate for foreign secretary among the 350 Conservative MPs who sit in this House?"
On Twitter, former Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated Cameron on his appointment as Foreign Secretary, adding that the experience he acquired during his tenure as Prime Minister "will be invaluable at this time of great uncertainty in our world".
Following the cabinet reshuffle, Andrea Jenkyns submitted a public letter of no confidence in Rishi Sunak.