New British PM Truss attends her first PMQs, installs allies in key cabinet roles

The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday had her first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session at the House of Commons in London that was characterized by pressure regarding her plans to deal with spiralling energy costs, and cut taxes, by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Truss said on Wednesday the British people wanted a government to tackle problems rather than have another national election.

After being appointed as Britain’s new leader by the government Conservative Party, an opposition Labour Party said she should go to the public so voters could determine the country’s leader.

“What the British people want, is they want a government that is going to sort it out and that is what I am determined to do as prime minister: sort out the energy crisis, get our economy going, make sure people can get doctor’s appointments, that’s what I’m focused on,” she said.

 Truss, said on Wednesday she wanted to see more extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea and more investment in nuclear power.

Speaking at her first prime minister’s question time in parliament, Truss said she wanted to find ways to address rising energy costs for businesses.

“I want to see us use more of our energy supply, including more oil and gas from the North Sea and nuclear power,” she said.

Liz Truss has rewarded her key allies with top jobs in a major reshuffle hours after succeeding Boris Johnson as prime minister.

Kwasi Kwarteng is made chancellor, James Cleverly becomes foreign secretary and Suella Braverman replaces Priti Patel as home secretary.

One of Truss’s closest friends, Therese Coffey, is appointed as health secretary and deputy PM.

Her new cabinet will meet ahead of her first Prime Minister’s Questions later.

None of those who backed her defeated rival, Rishi Sunak, will remain in her full cabinet, with Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, George Eustice and Steve Barclay all returning to the backbenches.

But Truss’s press secretary said the changes would “unify” the Tory Party and pointed to senior roles for five of her leadership rivals: Suella Braverman, Tom Tugendhat as security minister, Kemi Badenoch as trade secretary, Penny Mordaunt as leader of the Commons, and Nadhim Zahawi as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

For the first time, none of the top four “great offices of state” – prime minister, chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary – is held by a white man.

Below is a look at the people appointed to key positions:

POSITION	MINISTER APPOINTED	PREVIOUS MINISTER
Finance Minister	Kwasi Kwarteng	Nadhim Zahawi
Foreign Secretary	James Cleverly	Liz Truss
Interior Minister	Suella Braverman	Priti Patel
Deputy Prime Minister	Therese Coffey	Dominic Raab
Defence Secretary	Ben Wallace (re-appointed)
Justice Secretary	Brandon Lewis	Dominic Raab
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Nadhim Zahawi	Kit Malthouse
COP 26 President	Alok Sharma (re-appointed)
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary	Jacob Rees-Mogg	Kwasi Kwarteng
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary	Simon Clarke	Greg Clark
Secretary for International Trade	Kemi Badenoch	Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Secretary for Work and Pensions	Chloe Smith	Therese Coffey
Education Secretary	Kit Malthouse	James Cleverly
Environment Secretary	Ranil Jayawardena	George Eustice
Transport Secretary	Anne-Marie Trevelyan	Grant Shapps
Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport	Michelle Donelan	Nadine Dorries
Northern Ireland Secretary	Chris Heaton-Harris	Shailesh Vara
Chief Secretary to the Treasury	Chris Philp	Simon Clarke
Attorney-General	Michael Ellis	Suella Braverman