Boris Johnson has carried out a cabinet reshuffle, begun shortly before he announced his resignation after a mass walkout of ministers made his position untenable. The former business secretary Greg Clark is the new levelling up secretary, and James Cleverly takes over as education secretary, Johnson announced as he began trying to fill posts vacated in the past 72 hours.
Michelle Donelan had resigned as education secretary on Thursday morning, withdrawing her support for the prime minister after little more than a day in the post. Kit Malthouse, a longtime Johnson loyalist, becomes chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Shailesh Vara the Northern Ireland secretary and Robert Buckland the Welsh secretary.
Clark was one of the Tory MPs whom Johnson stripped of the whip in 2019 for trying to prevent a no-deal Brexit. He replaces Michael Gove, whom Johnson sacked late on Wednesday evening. Johnson intends to remain in No 10 while a leadership contest takes place, in a timetable agreed with the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady.
Ministers sought to reassure MPs that there was still a functioning government despite more than 50 resignations. “We’re getting on with the business of government calmly,” said the leader of the House of Commons, Mark Spencer. The new cabinet met later, and a formal readout suggested they had agreed to avoid changes of policy direction or major tax and spending decisions before a new administration is appointed. The fact that some of the new recruits, such as Clark, are party moderates was meant as a signal that Johnson has agreed that his political room for manoeuvre will be constrained as he waits for a successor to be chosen. Another dozen more junior appointments were announced late on Thursday, including some ministers who had resigned from the government returning to the fold now that Johnson has agreed to go. Will Quince returns to the Department for Education after resigning over false information he was given before a media round in which he was asked about the background to the Chris Pincher case.