New Brexit and Foreign Secretaries confirmed
Following David Davis’ shock resignation late on Sunday night, Dominic Raab has been appointed as the man in charge of leading UK negotiations to leave the EU.
The MP for Esher and Walton, who has a black belt in karate, was a prominent Leave campaigner during the 2016 referendum.
Davis is the seventh member of Theresa May’s cabinet to quit within a year. The others were Michael Fallon, Priti Patel, Damian Green, James Brokenshire, Justine Greening, and Amber Rudd – an average of one departure every six weeks.
Even though he is pro-Brexit, Davis revealed he felt ‘the odd man out’ from the start. In his official resignation letter, he says that, despite spending two years in the position of secretary of state for exiting the European Union, he didn’t see policy going in the right direction, remarking:
‘It will leave us in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. The best person to do this is someone who really believes in it, not me.’
The summit at Chequers last weekend which provoked Davis’ resignation occurred a full 15 months after Britain triggered the Article 50 process. It is estimated that there are only six weeks left before the final deal needs to be agreed by the 27 other EU countries.
Dominic Raab leaves his position as Minister for Housing and Planning. As a result, Theresa May will now need to appoint her fourth housing minister in just two years, and the eighth in as many years.
And in a further development yesterday afternoon, Boris Johnson, another passionate Leave supporter, quit as Foreign Secretary. He was said to be consulting with colleagues about his actions before the Chequers summit on Friday, and is said to described the PM’s Brexit plan as ‘polishing a turd’.
Downing Street announced that Jeremy Hunt, who has been the Health Secretary for the past six years – the longest in recent history – will replace Johnson as Foreign Secretary, appointed in time for President Trump’s visit on Friday.
Image: Chris McAndrew
