Under Liz Truss’s cabinet of chums, there will be trouble ahead

Editorial: By the looks of her cabinet picks, the new prime minister values loyalty over unity, isn’t much impressed by talent and experience, and will be even more intolerant of dissent than her predecessor

Everyone in the Conservative Party, from Boris Johnson to the grassroots enthusiast stuffing letterboxes, agrees that the party now needs to unite behind its new leader and – dread phrase – “deliver, deliver and deliver”.

So does Liz Truss. Yet by the looks of her cabinet picks, Ms Truss values loyalty above unity, isn’t that much impressed by talent and experience, and will be even more intolerant of dissent than her predecessor. If she hopes that the bitter infighting that led to the fall of Mr Johnson (and disfigured the leadership contest) can be put firmly behind her, she is going the wrong way about it. There are few more dangerous and vengeful political animals in the jungle than the cabinet minister who believes they have been deprived of power prematurely and unfairly.

The most graphic illustration of this can be found in the faces that will not figure in the new cabinet. Rishi Sunak, most obviously. Had things gone a little more gently in the hustings and TV debates, Mr Sunak might have found himself appointed foreign secretary as a consolation prize, with his counsel still at the disposal of the government. But what has been revealed over these past weeks is a deep rift over economic policy and the control of inflation. Even if Mr Sunak had chosen to play ball, he would probably have resigned over policy differences in a matter of months. Ominously for Ms Truss, he is now saying that he is keen to stay on into the next parliament. He is not finished yet.

Another familiar face gone is that of Michael Gove, a man who prides himself (accurately or not) on his reputation for “delivery”, who was sacked in the final moments before Mr Johnson announced his resignation – the unexpectedly low-key conclusion to the bizarre psychodrama that began so dramatically when Mr Gove “stabbed Mr Johnson in the front” back in 2016. He will be a loss, at any rate, as well as a potentially powerful critic.

The same goes for Dominic Raab, the former deputy prime minister and foreign secretary, who has lately been engaged in the creation of his very own modern Bill of Rights. He’s not the sort to be magnanimous in defeat.

Nor is Priti Patel, who was given the impossible and unlawful task of stopping refugees from trying to get to the UK, and jumped before she was pushed. A minister lucky to escape the sack for bullying – though she was sacked by Theresa May – Ms Patel’s final, undignified act at the despatch box was to snarl at the opposition to “shut up”.

She looks to be in an unusually foul mood, and will probably be trouble. Less easy to read is Nadine Dorries, apparently quitting voluntarily because she cannot imagine political life without being at the side of Mr Johnson. Her departure, though unplanned, is one of the few positives in respect of this new cabinet. So, too, is the absence of David (now Lord) Frost from Brexit policy. He was too aggressive even for Ms Truss, which is saying something.

There are others who could have strengthened the appeal and enhanced the capability of a Truss cabinet. Jeremy Hunt, for example, who had a disappointing leadership campaign but still has plenty to offer. Greg Clark, caretaker at the Department for Levelling Up, is one of the few pro-Remain survivors of the Johnson-Cummings purges in 2019, and, aside from his executive competence, represents a moderate, pro-European wing of the party that was once dominant.

In stark contrast, the so-called great offices of state are being filled by Ms Truss’s best mates. New chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, a smart but rather dogmatic figure, is close to Ms Truss. He will be in charge of economic policy, and a key player in laying out the strategy for her administration. Less obviously qualified for their meteoric promotions are the new foreign secretary, James Cleverly, and the new home secretary, Suella Braverman. Experience isn’t everything, but there’s no doubt that their personal allegiance to Ms Truss has helped them to climb the greasy pole.

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Our new deputy prime minister and health secretary, Therese Coffey, was a mostly safe pair of hands at the DWP, but she’s not presentationally gifted – and her new department has a far higher profile. She may well find the transition tricky. This has prompted some to speculate that she should have been pointed towards a different role.

Most chilling of all is Jacob Rees-Mogg being rewarded with the Department for Business role vacated by Mr Kwarteng. After Brexit, Covid and the energy crisis, the last thing industry and commerce need is some effete throwback lecturing them about free-market economics. As with Ms Coffey, that seems a woeful piece of miscasting.

The Sunakians, the remaining Cameroons and few surviving Mayites are not just under-represented in cabinet but absent completely. Even Penny Mordaunt, who finished third in the race, will have to make do with the non-departmental role of leader of the House of Commons, far away from the centre of policy making (and a lot of wrangling). Perhaps, like Margaret Thatcher, Ms Truss doesn’t want to waste time arguing in cabinet.

She also seems to have forgotten about gender balance, though she was never the most assiduous minister for equalities. This is a cabinet of chums, which has its merits, but it boasts a deficit of talent as big as that which she and Mr Kwarteng are about to inflict on the public finances. There will be trouble.