What Are the Conservative Party’s Goals in Forming a Cabinet That Includes Mostly Ethnic Minority Ministers?

Murad Jandali | 2 years ago

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Between new appointments or the continuation of other ministers in their posts, the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has chosen the names of those who will take over the various ministerial portfolios, until the parliamentary elections in late 2024, according to the Downing Street account announced on September 6, 2022.

Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was known for his fondness for rewarding his loyalists and appointing them to top positions, as he did with Liz Truss herself and with Rishi Sunak and others. Truss's appointments paint a new picture of her as a politician fond of rewarding allies and friends alike, which could unleash utter chaos, as one minister described it, citing the British weekly The Observer.

However, what is surprising in the new cabinet is that no white man was appointed, especially in the four most important ministerial positions in it (the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance, the Home Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), which is what happens for the first time in the history of the country.

The Minister of Finance, Kwasi Kwarteng, took over the post of Minister of Finance, who is of Ghanaian origin, while the portfolio of the Home Office was handed over to Attorney General Suella Braverman, who is of Indian origin, and James Cleverly, who is of Sierra Leone origin, took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Observers have attributed the great ethnic diversity in the formation of the new British government—11 MPs of African and Asian origin—to pressure by the Conservative Party in recent years to field a more diverse group of candidates for Parliament.

 

A Government of Loyalists

During a meeting that lasted for about 30 minutes, Britain's Queen Elizabeth formally asked Liz Truss, the leader of the largest party in Parliament (the Conservative Party), to take over as prime minister in the country, succeeding Boris Johnson.

On September 5, 2022, she won the leadership of the Conservative Party after internal elections within the party and thus headed the British government, after obtaining 57% of the votes of the party members, compared to 43% for her rival, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, following an election campaign that began in July Past.

The UK's extensive reshuffle saw 15 new faces in top government positions, while 16 members from the previous cabinet will stay in the newly formed cabinet.

As reported by the BBC in its report on September 7, 2022, Therese Coffey became Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister after she was Minister of State for Health and Social Care in Johnson's government. Coffey is a close friend of Truss and a longtime loyalist, which will spur further criticism of Truss.

This means that The UK is witnessing for the first time the appointment of two women as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the same time, knowing that no woman has previously held the position of Deputy Prime Minister.

Kwasi Kwarteng, a longtime ally and close friend of Truss, was appointed as Finance Minister and Counselor after serving as Minister of Business in Johnson's government. Kwarteng hails from an immigrant family from Guinea.

James Cleverly was promoted from Education Secretary to Foreign Secretary, the first ever non-white Foreign Secretary in Britain's history, and had previously worked in the Foreign Office as Deputy to Truss, who was then Foreign Secretary.

Truss also appointed her ally, Suella Braverman, as Home Secretary, whose father came to Britain from Kenya and Mauritius six decades ago.

The decision to appoint Braverman is believed to have rewarded her for Truss's support in the race to lead the party, as she called on her supporters to select Truss, who put her through the final round of balloting.

Meanwhile, Ben Wallace, who was one of the first to publicly support Truss, continued in his position as Secretary of Defense, and James Heappey, known for his hostility to Russia and Iran, was reappointed Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans, and Tom Tugendhat—who had aspired to succeed Johnson as head of the Conservative Party and government—was appointed Minister for Security as well as Brandon Lewis as justice secretary, Kit Malthouse as education secretary, Vicky Ford as development secretary, Chris Philp, who resigned from Johnson's government, as treasury secretary, and Graham Stuart as climate secretary.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan was appointed transport secretary, along with former leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch as international trade secretary, Chloe Smith as work and pensions secretary, and Ranil Jayawardena as environment secretary.

While Wendy Morton was chosen to take over the position of  Chief Whip in the Conservative Party, the first woman to hold this position, and former Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

It is noteworthy that several senior party members had urged the new prime minister to avoid what they described as Boris Johnson's mistake of establishing ministerial appointments on the basis of loyalty only, according to The Guardian reported in its September 6, 2022, report.

However, in addition to loyalty and familiarity, Truss chose her team mainly from the right wing of the Conservative Party, which could lead to a major split within the party that will run in general and parliamentary elections in two years.

 

Malicious Endeavors

As Bloomberg reported on September 6, 2022, after the run-off between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister prioritized loyalty and ideological compatibility above all; she also built her campaign on the right-wing party's appeal for diversity, which reflects her choices for the biggest jobs in British politics.

This diversity in the cabinet also allows the Conservatives to seek political capital and point to the fact that when it comes to representation, they will historically do much better than the main opposition Labor Party.

The first look at the sovereign positions in the new cabinet may suggest a historic moment for the new leader of the Conservative Party, which is dominated by the elderly, the wealthy, and the white, but the reality indicates the opposite.

The ethnic diversity, which we do not know if she meant, is nothing but a fragile facade for officials who were known for their strictness and adherence to conservative, right-wing ideas and haters of the different other.

Since all of the new appointments, without exception, supported Britain's exit from the European Union, based on a nationalist and conservative discourse, they all also want to deport immigrants today before tomorrow to Rwanda and other countries.

Truss is trying to make for itself a historic moment by forming the first government in which high-ranking positions are devoid of white men, but the slogan here is not complete, and the ethnic minority in its government does not exceed its symbolic and formal meaning.

However, holding senior positions in the Conservative Party has not prevented figures of immigrant ethnicity from criticizing the party's policies and approach to racial issues, including police powers and laws that make it difficult to seek asylum, which Truss recently pledged to continue.

It is noteworthy that the concerns of the broader segment of the electorate will not be reassured by the diverse races but rather by the less right-wing, extremist, and racist policies on many issues, from immigration to labor rights, the health sector, union work, and poverty.

From the choices of Truss, which amounted to 31 ministers in charge of ministerial portfolios in her government, it is clear that she focused on choosing people who disagreed with the resigned prime minister in some of the files that occupy British public opinions, such as climate change or economic crises and others.

 

Partisan Split

Another remarkable thing about the first cabinet line-up for Truss is its indifference to pressures aimed at deterring it from forming a government loyal to it, which increases the divisions in the ranks of the party that has lagged behind other parties in opinion polls, according to the Financial Times in a report on September 6, 2022.

Truss has not only given her loyalists cabinet portfolios but has also excluded from her government all allies of her rival Sunak, such as Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Health Secretary Steve Barclay, and Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps.

The biggest challenge facing Truss during her first three months in office is the huge split within the Conservative Party that unfolded in the last days of Johnson's rule.

However, the past two months and the accompanying disagreements between the contenders on the one hand and their allies on the other reinforced a shattered image of a party unable to survive until the next general elections in 2024.

The Conservative Party has suffered from a decline in popularity recently, while it is expected to show little signs of improvement under the leadership of Truss, despite the high approval ratings of former prime ministers in opinion polls after taking office.

Unlike Johnson, Truss would not be able to rely on a solid parliamentary mandate, as she did not have the support of nearly 200 of its deputies. In addition, more than two-thirds of the deputies did not vote for her in the first stage of the race, as there are real doubts about its ability to emerge from a crisis that a British government has not experienced in decades.