We can now add cabinet revolt to the list of problems threatening the Prime Minister’s increasingly precarious position. Suella Braverman has resigned as Home Secretary after sharing an official document via her personal email. But her resignation letter makes it clear that the direction of government is the main reason for her departure.
She wrote that “pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that everything will come right is not serious politics”.
Braverman has strong support among right-wing MPs in the parliamentary party, and her resignation demonstrates the extent to which Truss is now isolated from that faction. Grant Shapps – who supported Rishi Sunak during the leadership contest – has been mooted as a replacement for Braverman, which may help the Prime Minister broaden her support among Conservatives.
Braverman is the second cabinet minister to leave the government in less than a week, after Truss was forced to sack the former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last Friday (14 October). With their departure, the Prime Minister has lost key allies within the cabinet. Some Tory MPs are suggesting they will rebel tonight in a vote on fracking that the government has described as a confidence ballot. The Prime Minister’s fate could soon be sealed.
[See also: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister after just 44 days]
Content from our partners
Related
