UK PM Liz Truss forms most diverse Cabinet in UK history with no white males in prominent roles
As Liz Truss became the U.K Prime Minister, she unveiled one of the most diverse Cabinets the country has ever witnessed in terms of gender and ethnicity
As Liz Truss became the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, she unveiled one of the most diverse Cabinets that the country has ever witnessed in terms of gender and ethnicity. Britain’s third female Prime Minister offered the key frontline posts going to ethnic minority members of Parliament, including Indian-origin Suella Braverman as the Home Secretary. It is pertinent to mention that this will be the first time in the history of Britain that no white man will hold the country’s top ministerial positions.
Liz Truss’ ‘Diverse’ cabinet
PM Truss appointed Kwasi Kwarteng who hails from Ghana as Britain’s first black finance minister while mixed-race with Sierra Leone and white heritage James Cleverly as the Foreign minister. Indian-origin Suella Braverman has been appointed as Home Secretary, responsible for immigration and law and order. Therese Coffey is the first female deputy prime minister.
Another Indian-origin minister in the Cabinet is Alok Sharma, who retains his climate action job as COP26 President, as does Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. Iraqi-origin Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of Equalities whereas Brandon Lewis is the new Justice Secretary, and Penny Mordaunt is the Leader of the Commons.
Wendy Morton, another ally, has been appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury as she became the first Tory female Chief Whip in charge of party discipline.
In her inaugural address, the newly-appointed UK PM Truss said, “We have huge reserves of talent, energy, and determination. I am confident that together we can ride out the storm, we can rebuild our economy, and can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be. This is our vital mission to ensure opportunity and prosperity for all people and future generations. I am determined to deliver”.
Liz Truss defeats Rishi Sunak in Conservative Party polls
On September 5, Liz Truss was declared the winner of the Tory leadership election and will succeed Boris Johnson as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Truss beat Indian-origin Conservative Leader and former Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak by a massive 20,297 votes. She secured 81,326 votes while Rishi Sunak secured 60,399 votes. With Liz Truss becoming the PM of the country, the Foreign Secretary will be the third woman Prime Minister of Britain after Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth May.
It is important to mention that Truss won the Conservative leadership contest with 57.4 percent votes – a margin lower than any previous Tory leader chosen by the members. She received 57.4 percent of the votes as opposed to Rishi Sunak, who received 42.6 percent. Among the four Conservative party leaders elected after a ballot of the whole membership, Truss is the only one to have secured less than 60 percent of the vote.
