British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday sacked his Interior Minister Suella Braverman, in the hot seat over criticism of the police, as part of a reshuffle ahead of next year’s legislative elections, said several British media.
“Today, @RishiSunak is strengthening his government team to implement long-term decisions for a better future,” the ruling conservative party said on X (formerly Twitter).
Criticism of the police
Such a reshuffle has been expected for weeks as the Prime Minister, in Downing Street for just over a year, seeks to relaunch and prepare for the legislative elections scheduled for next year and no later than 2025. His party, in power for almost 14 years, is far behind Labor in the polls.
Events came to a head last week when the Home Secretary criticized the London police in an op-ed in The Times, accusing them of authorizing the pro-Palestinian march which took place on Saturday. The article had not received the green light from Downing Street, contrary to the usual rules. These comments were seen as undermining the operational independence of the police.
A migratory “hurricane”
They were added to a series of controversies provoked in recent months by the very right-wing 43-year-old minister: she described the arrivals of refugees as an “invasion” and warned of a migratory “hurricane”, and had more recently estimated that the homeless slept in tents in accordance with a “chosen way of life.”
The dismissal of this figure from the right wing of the majority, who willingly launches into cultural “wars”, risks causing turmoil within the conservatives and reinforcing divisions, some deputies supporting her having threatened to resign if she left the government.