Less diverse but some surprise comebacks: Key statistics about the new Cabinet
The UK is now on its 10th education secretary in 12 years.
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Your support makes all the difference.Here are some of the key numbers behind the Cabinet reshuffle:
– The Cabinet has become less diverse, both in terms of gender and ethnicity.
Just under a quarter (22%) of all people able to attend Cabinet meetings are women.
This is down from nearly a third (32%) at the start of Liz Truss’s premiership, which was the highest proportion ever for a prime minister’s first Cabinet.
It is also lower than the equivalent figure for Boris Johnson (24%) and Theresa May (30%).
Five of the 31 people able to attend Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet are non-white, including the prime minister.
This is down from seven out of 31 in Liz Truss’s first Cabinet.
– Grant Shapps goes into the history books as the shortest-serving home secretary in modern political history.
Mr Shapps was given the job by former prime minister Ms Truss on October 19 and lasted just six days until being replaced by Suella Braverman on October 25.
It represents a very swift return to the role of home secretary for Ms Braverman, who held the post directly prior Mr Shapps but only for 43 days before resigning over a breach of the ministerial code.
She is currently the second shortest serving home secretary since 1900.
If she manages to stay in the job for another 19 days, she will become the third shortest-serving person to hold the role.
– Therese Coffey’s spell as the first woman to formally hold the role of deputy prime minister lasted just 49 days.
Dominic Raab returns to the post he held from September 2021 to September 2022.
Only three other people have ever been officially appointed to the role: Conservative politician Michael Heseltine (1995 to 1997), Labour’s John Prescott (1997 to 2007) and the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (2010 to 2015).
– Gillian Keegan is the 10th education secretary in the past 12 years.
Since 2010, the post has been held by Michael Gove (2010-14), Nicky Morgan (2014-16), Justine Greening (2016-18), Damian Hinds (2018-19), Gavin Williamson (2019-21), Nadhim Zahawi (2021-22), Michelle Donelan (for two days in July 2022), James Cleverly (from July to September 2022), Kit Malthouse (from September to October 2022) and now Ms Keegan.
The turnover has been so great that five separate people have held the job of education secretary in the last 12 months.
– The UK also has its ninth work and pensions secretary since 2010.
The new holder of the role, Mel Stride, follows Iain Duncan Smith (2010-16), Stephen Crabb (2016), Damian Green (2016-17), David Gauke (2017-18), Esther McVey (2018), Amber Rudd (2018-19), Therese Coffey (2019-2022) and Chloe Smith (2022).
– Michael Gove is another surprise comeback, returning to the Cabinet 111 days after he was sacked by former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Gove has now held six different Cabinet posts since 2010: education secretary (2010-14), chief whip (2014-15), justice secretary (2015-16), environment secretary (2017-19), chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (2019-21) and levelling up secretary (September 2021 to July 2022, to which he has now been reappointed)
– Mark Harper is the seventh transport secretary since 2010 and the 14th politician to have Cabinet-level responsibility for transport since 1997.
– The average age of Cabinet ministers is 52, up from 49 under Liz Truss.
At 42, Rishi Sunak is one of the youngest members of his own Cabinet, with only two other ministers his same age (Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch) and just one who is younger (Michelle Donelan, 38).
Some 15 of the 21 full-time Cabinet ministers are aged 50 or over.