Suella Braverman resigns as home secretary and takes aim at Liz Truss
Suella Braverman. (Getty)
Suella Braverman has resigned as home secretary.
Braverman, who was appointed home secretary 43 days ago, left the post on Wednesday (19 October), the BBC confirmed.
It came after another tumultuous day for Liz Truss, who faced her first PMQs since sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor.
In her resignation letter, Braverman confirmed she had broken security rules by sending an official document from her personal email.
She also took aim at Liz Truss, saying she has “concerns about the direction of government”, and appeared to suggest Truss ought to resign.
“The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes,” she said.
“Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.”
She added: I have concerns about the direction of government . Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but i have serious concerns about the government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments.”
Grant Shapps has been named as the new home secretary.
Suella Braverman is second top cabinet minster to exit government
Braverman’s exit will come as welcome news to LGBTQ+ rights supporters.
The home secretary has pushed vehemently anti-trans rhetoric from the moment it became apparent there was an opportunity to exploit.
Before Boris Johnson had even resigned, she declared her intent to run for the party leadership on an ‘anti-woke’ platform.
“We need to get rid of all of this woke rubbish and get back to a country where describing a man and a woman in terms of biology does not mean that you’re going to lose your job,” she said.
Knocked out of the race in its early stages, she was promoted from attorney general to home secretary by Liz Truss.
In her short time in the role, Braverman had pledged to pursue her predecessor Priti Patel’s controversial Rwanda asylum plan – one that advocates have said is an effective death sentence for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
In recent days she has attacked police for encouraging trans people to report hate crime, and, in her final Commons speech, lashed out at “tofu-eating wokerati”.
Her exit comes as Liz Truss fights for political survival.
It’s been reported that after her and Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget tanked the economy, up to 100 Tory MPs have submitted letters of no confidence.
In the prime minister’s first year, normal rules do not apply, so a vote will not be automatically called.
However it’s believed that chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, will intervene if he receives enough letters.
