UK politics LIVE: Sunak keeps Hunt as finance minister, Braverman back as interior minister

UK's new PM retains Ben Wallace as defence secretary. He also retained James Cleverly as foreign secretary, despite them both backing an aborted comeback by ex-leader Boris Johnson. 

The appointments of the pair, along with Jeremy Hunt as finance minister, signalled continuity at the top after the dramatic upheavals seen under Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss. 

Meanwhile, Braverman back as interior minister in Sunak's new UK cabinet. 

UK's Sunak makes close ally Dominic Raab deputy PM and justice secretary. 

Sunak on Tuesday kept finance minister Jeremy Hunt in the crucial post as he started to unveil his top team of ministers. 

Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss appointed Hunt just 11 days ago in an ultimately futile bid to salvage her faltering premiership. 

Since Rishi Sunak has taken over as prime minister of the UK, several Tory MPs have handed in their resignations amid the ongoing cabinet reshuffle.

According to reports, the UK PM Sunak was also in the House of Commons earlier today.

Here is a list of all the Tory MPs who have quit the government so far: 

1. Jacob Rees-Mogg as Business Secretary 
2. Brandon Lewis as Justice Secretary 
3. Wendy Morton as Chief Whip
4. Chloe Smith as Works and Pensions Secretary 
5. Vicky Ford as Minister of State for Development 
6. Kit Malthouse as Education Secretary 
7. Robert Buckland as Secretary of State for Wales
8. Ranil Jayawardena as Environment Secretary 
9. Simon Clarke as Levelling up Secretary 
10. Jake Berry as Conservative Party Chairman (with no portfolio)

Whereas, Downing Street has indicated that Alok Sharma was removed from the cabinet as Minister of State at the Cabinet Office but will remain COP26 President. 
 

UK MP for the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, Wendy Morton, has quit as the chief whip of the House of Commons. 

Brandon Lewis has resigned as the justice secretary from the UK government. 

He also took to Twitter to post the following statement: 

According to reports, Jacob Rees-Mogg has resigned as the Business Secretary of the UK. 

This comes ahead of the cabinet reshuffle which is expected to begin by the new prime minister Rishi Sunak later today.  

Moments after Rishi Sunak's speech as the new Prime Minister of the UK, former PM Boris Johnson took to Twitter and congratulated Sunak on his appointment saying, "this is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support." 

Prior to his arrival, he was heckled by a protester shouting, "Rishi out".

Rishi Sunak went on to deliver his first address as the United Kingdom's new prime minister at No. 10 Downing Street in London. 

He started his speech by talking about some of the major issues the country currently faces including "profound economic crisis", aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic, and Putin's war in Ukraine. 

Paying tribute to his predecessor, Liz Truss he said that her decisions of targeting increased economic growth "were not wrong". 

But "some mistakes were made", he added.  

He has been elected as the new PM, in part, to "fix" them. 

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Rishi Sunak arrives at Downing Street for his first speech as the Prime Minister of the UK. 

Sunak has officially become the prime minister after meeting King Charles III. The monarch has invited him to form the new government. 

Minutes after Liz Truss arrived at Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation, PM-to-be Rishi Sunak also arrived to meet King Charles III.

After seeking King Charles III's audience, outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss submitted her resignation which has been accepted by the monarch. 

Liz Truss has tendered her resignation to the King and that brings an end to the shortest reign of a UK prime minister. 

Liz Truss has arrived at Buckingham Palace for her last meeting with the King as the prime minister of UK. 

"We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens. And restoring power to democratic institutions. It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money that they earn," said Truss. 

Liz Truss is now on her way to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation to the King.

The Prime Minister opened Cabinet by thanking Ministers for their support. She said that in the short time the Government had been in place they had secured some significant achievements.

She said the government ensured the country was able to mourn the passing of Her Majesty The Queen and to welcome His Majesty King Charles III as the new monarch, a vital moment in the history of our country.

The prime minister said the government acted to immediately protect the public and businesses from unsustainably high energy bills – bringing in the Energy Price Guarantee to save the typical household around £700 this winter.

The government also stuck to its pledge to scrap the rise in national insurance and demonstrated its steadfast commitment in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s war of aggression.

Not much is known about Rishi Sunak's cabinet but British media is speculating that two people will surely find their names in the list - finance minister Jeremy Hunt and former health minister Sajid Javid.

Labour is saying the Conservatives are still a "divided and chaotic party" despite the accession of Rishi Sunak as prime minister.

Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden told Sky News that today's reshuffle will be "another round of ministerial chairs being moved around".

Penny Mordaunt opted out of the leadership race but Sky News reported that she can be given a cabinet role under Rishi Sunak. However, nothing has been confirmed till now and she refused to answer the questions posed by the media.

Preparations were underway in 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning, ahead of the arrival of incoming British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Sunak will be asked by King Charles III to form a government and will become the prime minister in a handover of power from Liz Truss on Tuesday.

Rishi Sunak is all set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and he has urged the Conservative Party to “unite or die” amid growing dissent over inflation and fuel prices. With Liz Truss lasting just 44 days in office following criticism over the underfunded tax cuts introduced in her first mini-budget, Sunak told party members that “policies not personalities” will win elections for them. 

Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of tech giant Infosys, congratulated his son-in-law Rishi Sunak after he was confirmed to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Murthy said that he was “proud” of what Sunak has achieved and expressed his confidence that he will “do his best” for the country. 

“Congratulations to Rishi. We are proud of him, and we wish him success. We are confident he will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom,” Murthy told ANI on Monday. 

1:30 PM: Liz Truss will chair her final cabinet meeting.

2:45 PM: Liz Truss will make the official statement outside 10, Downing Street. She will travel to Buckingham Palace after that to hand her resignation to King Charles. The monarch will also meet Rishi Sunak and invite him to form the government as its leader.

4:05 PM: Rishi Sunak will address the nation for the first time as PM.