LIZ Truss has moved to appoint her closest allies to the cabinet while sending the Tory MPs who supported Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest to the backbenches. 

The wife of one sacked minister was so angry with the decision she took to social media to describe the new Prime Minister as an “imbecile.”

As expected Kwasi Kwarteng is Chancellor of the Exchequer, while James Cleverly becomes the Foreign Secretary, and former leadership hopeful, Suella Braverman takes over from Priti Patel as Home Secretary.

The appointments mean that for the first time in history not one of the great offices of state is held by a white man.

The Prime Minister has also picked former work and pensions secretary Thérèse Coffey to be Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minster.

She is one of Ms Truss’s closest friends in Westminster and replaces Dominic Raab, who was the first minister from the old regime to be kicked out of office. 

He had been a prominent supporter of Mr Sunak, and had even described Ms Truss’s tax plans as an “electoral suicide note”.

In a tweet, Mr Raab said he looked forward “to supporting the Government from the backbenches.”

Ben Wallace has been re-appointed as Defence Secretary, while Wendy Morton has been appointed chief whip, and will attend Cabinet. It is the first time the Tories have had a female MP in that role. 

Alister Jack will remain as Secretary of State for Scotland. He said he was "honoured" to be reappointed. 

"Liz Truss has been clear she will deliver for people right across the UK. I look forward to being a part of her new cabinet as we tackle the challenges facing our country, not least the rising cost of living and ensuring long term security of our energy supply."

"An absolute priority will be to grow our economy. I'm very pleased that I will be continuing my role and delivering an ambitious UK government programme in Scotland, which is doing just that, including £2 billion of direct investment in Scottish communities.

"We are committed to supporting families and businesses in Scotland and to strengthening Scotland's place as part of a vibrant and successful United Kingdom."

Brandon Lewis has been made Justice Secretary, while former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, minister for intergovernmental relations, and minister for equalities.

It is a significant demotion but means he responsibility for working with the devolved administrations.  

Penny Mordaunt, who stood against Ms Truss for the Tory leadership has been made Leader of the House of Commons.

She was quick to throw her support behind Ms Truss after being eliminated from the race to replace Boris Johnson. However, during the contest, she was viciously critical of her rival. 

In one debate Ms Mordaunt claimed that only she could “beat Keir Starmer and take the fight to Labour.”

Another rival in the race to replace Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch, has been appointed as International Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade.

Jake Berry has been appointed as minister without portfolio, while Alok Sharma has kept his job as COP26 President.

Chloe Smith will be Work and Pensions Secretary, while Kit Malthouse has been named as Education Secretary.

Prominent Brexiteer and supporter of Mr Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg has been made Business Secretary.

He tweeted: “It is an honour to be appointed as the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

“I look forward to serving the Prime Minister and the country during the challenging times ahead.”

Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke will be the next Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

And Ranil Jayawardena has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan has one of the toughest jobs in government, taking over from Grant Shapps as Transport Secretary. She will need to take over negotiations with the rail unions ahead of what threatens to be a winter of industrial action.

Michelle Donelan, who served as Education Secretary for just 36 hours in the dying days of the Johnson government, will become Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

In a bid to help heal the wounds after the bitter and divisive two month long leadership contest Ms Truss had been encouraged by some in the party to try and find government roles for some of Mr Sunak’s supporters. 

However, his most prominent backers in the cabinet have all been sacked.

Grant Shapps has been let go as Transport Secretary, while Shailesh Vara is out as Northern Ireland Secretary.

Steve Barclay, who had been health secretary for Mr Johnson’s final months in office, is also no longer in government. On Twitter, he wished Ms Truss “every success for the future”.

However, there was room around the cabinet table for Michael Ellis. Even though he backed Mr Sunak, Ms Truss has made him her Attorney General.

Johnny Mercer, who did not say who he was backing in the race, said he was “disappointed” to be sacked as veterans’ affairs minister, but accepted the Prime Minister is “entitled to reward her supporters”.

Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, his wife, was less understanding. “Best person I know sacked by an imbecile @trussliz,” she tweeted.

Greg Clark was fired as levelling up secretary, while Andrew Stephenson, who remained publicly neutral during the contest as Conservative Party chairman, also said he was leaving the role.

Earlier, Nadine Dorries, who had backed Ms Truss, confirmed that she had been asked to stay on as Culture Secretary but had decided that she also would be returning to the backbenches.

There is a rumour that she could be given a peerage in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Though that would trigger a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency.