Suella Braverman has been sacked as British home secretary as Rishi Sunak took action following her unauthorised article criticising the way pro-Palestinian protests had been policed.
A No 10 source said the UK prime minister “asked Suella Braverman to leave Government and she has accepted”.
The Conservatives said Mr Sunak is carrying out a wider reshuffle which “strengthens his team in Government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future”.
But sacking one of the leading figures on the Tory right could pose difficulties for Mr Sunak as he seeks to get his party united behind him and ready for a UK general election expected next year.
🚨 HERE WE GO
Today @RishiSunak strengthens his team in Government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future.
Stay tuned for the latest. pic.twitter.com/ianN6edyDUAdvertisement— Conservatives (@Conservatives) November 13, 2023
News of Mrs Braverman’s exit came as defence minister James Heappey was touring broadcast studios.
Minutes before she was sacked, he had told LBC that Mr Sunak and his team in No 10 had been “very clear she [Mrs Braverman] has his confidence and, in that sense, one would imagine that she will continue”.
But he was told on air during an ITV Good Morning Britain interview that she had been sacked, leaving him to say: “Your viewers will be enjoying my discomfort, but it is in this case difficult to offer commentary when I just don’t know what is going on.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Suella Braverman was never fit to be Home Secretary. Rishi Sunak knew this and he still appointed her.
“It was the Prime Minister’s sheer cowardice that kept her in the job even for this long. We are witnessing a broken party and a broken Government, both of which are breaking this country.”
