UK Home Secretary Also Replaced... Will Education and Trade Cabinets Follow?

Suela Braverman, UK Home Secretary. (Photo by Bloomberg News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The political crisis of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is deepening as the Home Secretary voluntarily resigned just five days after the Finance Secretary was replaced. With the possibility of resignations from the Education and Trade Secretaries also being raised, attention is focused on whether this resignation of the Home Secretary will trigger a wave of resignations among key ministers in the Truss cabinet.

On the 19th (local time), major foreign media including The Guardian reported that Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned after 43 days in office. This came just five days after Jeremy Hunt was appointed Finance Secretary on the 14th, following the dismissal of former Finance Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. It marks the replacement of two ministers within six weeks since the Truss cabinet took office on the 6th of last month.

Braverman stated in her resignation letter shared on her Twitter that day, "I take responsibility for my mistake and resign." Foreign media reported that Braverman voluntarily resigned taking responsibility for violating security regulations by sharing confidential documents via her personal mobile phone.

Prime Minister Truss accepted Braverman's resignation one hour after her announcement, saying, "I respect your decision and accept your resignation," and appointed former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as her successor.

Bloomberg News evaluated Truss's appointment of Shapps, who had been a leading critic of her, as an "extreme measure by Truss obsessed with maintaining her premiership."

It added that while Truss acted swiftly to respond to the crisis by replacing the Home Secretary, it signals the overall crisis of Truss losing control over her cabinet.

US economic media CNBC reported that Shapps was one of the Conservative Party voices criticizing Truss's large-scale tax cut plan, including the abolition of the top income tax rate.

Shapps had compared Truss's predicament to climbing Mount Everest, criticizing, "For Truss to maintain her premiership is like threading a needle in the dark."

CNBC noted that although the apparent reason for Braverman's resignation was a security regulation violation, her resignation letter can be read as a message to the embattled Prime Minister Truss.

In her resignation letter, former Minister Braverman wrote, "We are going through turbulent times, and I am concerned about the current government's direction," strongly expressing her concerns and criticisms of the cabinet.

She continued, "Acting as if we have made no mistakes, acting as if no one sees the mistakes we have made, and hoping things will magically work out is not serious politics. I made a mistake. I take responsibility and resign."

Braverman, who ran against Prime Minister Truss in the Conservative Party leadership race, was in charge of Brexit affairs for three years from 2018 and served as Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2022.

Liz Truss, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo by Politico)

Major UK media are paying close attention to whether this resignation of the Home Secretary will lead to a wave of resignations among Truss cabinet ministers. Previously, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was embroiled in controversy over the 'Party Gate' scandal, resigned after former Finance Secretary Rishi Sunak submitted his resignation and the cabinet faced mounting pressure for mass resignations.

Prime Minister Truss, who took office on the 6th of last month, announced a massive tax cut plan worth ?45 billion, but was criticized as the financial market plunged into chaos due to policies running counter to the global economic situation.

Subsequently, Truss admitted the failure of the tax cut plan, apologized to the public, and dismissed Finance Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, but even the ruling Conservative Party strongly opposed her, continuing to pressure her to resign.

On the same day, Truss attended the regular weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQ) session in the House of Commons, apologized to the opposition's resignation demands by saying, "I am sorry, I made a mistake," but reaffirmed her determination to hold onto the premiership by stating, "I am a fighter, not a quitter."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.