Chancellor Hunt, Foreign Secretary Cleverly Among Candidates for New UK Cabinet - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2022) UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, and former Health Secretary Sajid Javid are among possible candidates for positions in the new cabinet under incoming UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Sunak became the head of the ruling Conservative Party, and as such, the country's next prime minister.

According to The Times, Sunak is likely to keep Hunt in office as chancellor, as Hunt supported Sunak's candidacy for the party leadership after Boris Johnson's resignation in July.

Acting Foreign Secretary Cleverly is a key candidate to head the UK Foreign Office, The Times said, adding that Raab and Javid, former justice and health secretaries respectively, as well as Penny Mordaunt, Sunak's competitor in the electoral race to become the next leader of the Conservatives, may be envisaged as Cleverly's successor as well.

Acting Home Secretary Grant Shapps, who was appointed to his position shortly before Liz Truss's resignation, could stay in office. However, Suella Braverman, Shapps' predecessor, and Michael Gove, a former housing secretary, might also be considered as alternative candidates, The Times said.

On October 20, Truss announced her resignation as UK prime minister, less than two months after her appointment as Boris Johnson's successor, becoming the shortest-serving head of government in UK history.