UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will be fired from the Cabinet if Foreign Secretary Liz Truss gets the better of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership race, The Telegraph has reported.
Patel will reportedly be replaced by Attorney General Suella Braverman, even though The Telegraph cited unnamed sources close to the home secretary as holding out hope that she still may be able to keep her role.
“She wants to stay at the Home Office and at the moment she isn’t really interested in another role, because she wants to finish the work she started,” one source told the newspaper, while another insider argued that “her mood at the moment is that it’s home secretary or nothing.”
The source claimed that the new Cabinet should be a government that will be “fighting battles on all fronts and it needs people who can put out fires elsewhere so it can concentrate on the economy and the cost of living crisis.” According to the insider, “Priti Patel’s political skills should not be underestimated and there should be room for her in the next cabinet.”
The Telegraph, in turn, suggested that Patel’s name not being currently earmarked for any other Cabinet job may be attributed to her decision “to remain neutral in the leadership race by refusing publicly to declare support for both Truss and Sunak."
The newspaper insisted that Patel is “set to be the most high-profile casualty in a cull of Tory ‘big beasts’ from the Cabinet” if Truss becomes the new prime minister.
According to The Telegraph, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is “certain” to be sacked after angering Truss by slamming her economic plans as an “electoral suicide note.”
Others likely to depart Downing Street include Health Secretary Steve Barclay, Environment Secretary George Eustice and Mark Spencer, the leader of the House of Commons.
Sunak will also not be invited into Truss’ new cabinet, the newspaper reported, adding that a total of 15 ministers will be fired by Truss if she gets the job of PM.
A new poll conducted by YouGov has, meanwhile, indicated that at least 66% of Tory members are prepared to vote for Truss, while Sunak enjoys only 34% of support, with 13% of Conservatives still undecided on how they will vote.
Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson's successor will be announced on September 5. Sunak and Truss are the two final candidates for the prime minister's seat as a result of the fifth round of voting in late July.
Johnson announced his resignation on July 7 after a series of scandals pertaining, in particular, to COVID rule-busting parties at Downing Street and the appointment of embattled Christopher Pincher as Tory deputy chief whip. The Pincher row led to dozens of government officials stepping down ahead of BoJo’s resignation.