FUMING Penny Mordaunt stormed out of No10 last night after being snubbed in Rishi Sunak’s controversial new Cabinet.
The new PM dished out top jobs to close pals while also keeping a handful of supporters of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson in a quest for party unity.
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But, after an hour of wrangling, the Tory leader kept vanquished leadership rival Ms Mordaunt as Commons Leader despite her courting a plum post such as Foreign Secretary.
She emerged from Downing Street with a face like thunder, refusing to talk to the waiting media.
Allies of Ms Mordaunt insisted she was offered a slight promotion but declined.
Mr Sunak assembled a gang of male greybeards to help him tackle the economic and political turmoil, with a string of former Cabinet ministers even returning to their old jobs.
At least ten members of Ms Truss’s team were fired in the cull.
But in a olive branch to the deeply split party, he kept Johnson-backers James Cleverly in the Foreign Office and Ben Wallace at Defence.
Meanwhile, big beasts Michael Gove and Dominic Raab as well as re-treads Oliver Dowden and Steve Barclay made comebacks after being cast into the cold by vengeful Ms Truss.
Even bungling former Education Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson made a shock return to the top table as one of five former chief whips given jobs.
Mark Harper is back as Transport Secretary, with a return for Plebgate MP Andrew Mitchell at the Foreign Office.
Mr Sunak said his new Cabinet was an attempt to “reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party”.
But one insider quipped: “Looks like Rishi has a woman problem. It’s like Boris’s cabinet, without Boris.”
All except a small handful of Ministers had held previous Cabinet experience, with only those who supported Mr Sunak in his two leadership bids brought back into the team.
Grassroots darling Suella Braverman made an astonishing return as Home Secretary just six days after being sacked for accidentally leaking official documents from her personal phone.
The former leadership hopeful became the most senior woman in the new government having thrown her weight behind Mr Sunak at the weekend — in a snub to Mr Johnson.
Her appointment is a major signal he will push ahead with the Rwanda policy and make tackling Channel migration more of a priority.
In a sop to the jittery markets Jeremy Hunt remained as Chancellor, keeping next week’s Halloween mini-Budget on track.
Airbrushing Ms Truss’ chaotic premiership into history, the new PM reinstated several of his sacked friends into the posts they held just seven weeks ago.
Mr Raab returned as Deputy PM and Justice Secretary and Mr Barclay was brought back as Health Secretary.
In a spectacular comeback, Mr Gove was put back as Levelling Up Secretary just months after being ruthlessly fired from the role as Mr Johnson’s last act in office.
The veteran Tory, who has served in Cabinet intermittently since 2010, returned to lead the backbench rebellion against Ms Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget.
Grant Shapps was shunted from Home Secretary to Business Secretary.
BENEFIT RISE
Close friend Mel Stride, who chaired Mr Sunak’s summer leadership campaign, was rewarded with the position of Work and Pensions Secretary.
The move was seen as a signal the new PM was about to raise benefits in line with inflation, as he had promised.
Mr Dowden returned to the heart of government as chief fixer in the role of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Ex-soldier Simon Hart was made Chief Whip to bring discipline to the party following weeks of in-fighting.
Gillian Keegan as Education Secretary was one of only a few appointees without previous Cabinet experience.
Mr Sunak kept Mr Johnson’s old pals James Cleverly as Foreign Secretary, Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary and Chris Heaton-Harris as Northern Ireland Secretary.
Therese Coffey — Ms Truss’s deputy PM and best mate — was demoted to Environment Secretary, replacing her lieutenant Ranil Jayawardena who jumped before he was pushed.
Just minutes after his Downing Street speech had ended, a string of Cabinet ministers announced they were leaving the government ahead of the arrival of the new gang.
VET VICTORY
RISHI Sunak upheld The Sun’s Veterans Pledge last night by putting Johnny Mercer back in the Cabinet to look after military heroes.
The PM stuck to the promise he made in the summer leadership campaign by restoring the former Army officer to his post as Veterans Minister.
He will attend Cabinet again as he did under Boris Johnson who created the position in his final weeks in No10.
Liz Truss caused outrage during her brief time as PM when she reportedly giggled as she sacked Mr Mercer from the role and handed his responsibilities to another minister.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who branded Mr Sunak a “socialist” during last summer’s leadership election, quit as Business Secretary before he could be fired.
Kit Malthouse was sacked as Education Secretary and returned to the backbenches after rejecting a serious demotion to a mid-ranking Trade Minister.
Johnson ally Jake Berry was also dismissed as party chairman after his short tenure.
He was replaced by fellow Johnson-backer Nadhim Zahawi, who accepted a demotion from Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster after swiftly changing tack to support Rishi.
In a cull of Trussites, Simon Clarke was pushed out as Levelling Up Secretary and Chloe Smith was let go as Work and Pensions Secretary after just seven weeks in their posts.
Wendy Morton was sacked as Chief Whip after presiding over a shambolic fracking vote that was the final nail in the coffin of Ms Truss’s premiership.
Fellow Truss backer and Cabinet veteran Brandon Lewis fell on his sword as Justice Secretary.
A No10 source said of the reshuffle: “This cabinet brings the talents of the party together.
“It reflects a unified party and a cabinet with significant experience, ensuring that at this uncertain time there is continuity. The Prime Minister’s new cabinet will deliver for the British people.”
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