THERESA May is expected to visit Scotland in her first official engagement as prime minister on Friday in a clear indication of the strength of her commitment to maintaining the Union of Great Britain.
The Prime Minister is set to hold talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh, where she will underline how she wants the Scottish Government to form a central part of the Brexit process. It is understood that senior civil servants within the SNP administration have already been appointed to a putative Brexit unit.
Mrs May, who has spent most of today creating her new cabinet, made clear in her first speech after becoming PM that she wanted to lead a “one nation government” and stressed how she was leader the Conservative and Unionist Party.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond's advice to Theresa May: Don't mess with the people of Scotland
“That word ‘Unionist’ is very important to me. It means we believe in the Union; the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But it means something else that is just as important; it means we believe in a union not just between the nations of the United Kingdom but between all of our citizens, every one of us, whoever we are and wherever we’re from,” the Tory leader said on the steps of Downing Street on Wednesday evening.
Given the scale of the changes to cabinet, a senior Whitehall insider made clear: “This is not a reshuffle; this is a completely new government.”
After the initial appointments of Philip Hammond as chancellor, Boris Johnson as foreign secretary and Amber Rudd as home secretary, as well as leading Brexiters Liam Fox at International Trade and David Davis as Brexit secretary, the new PM swiftly put in place her new front line team, which included several women.
READ MORE: Sturgeon hits back after chancellor rules out separate EU status for Scotland
The new appointees are: Justine Greening at Education; Liz Truss at Justice; Andrea Leadsom at Environment; Chris Grayling at Transport; Priti Patel at International Development; Damian Green at Work and Pensions; Greg Clark at Business; James Brokenshire at Northern Ireland; Karen Bradley at Culture; Gavin Williamson as chief whip; Baroness Evans as Lords leader and Patrick McLoughlin as party chairman.
As well as Michael Fallon remaining at Defence, Jeremy Hunt survives the junior doctors’ dispute and stays at Health. However, Sajid Javid has been demoted from Business to Communities secretary.
As expected David Mundell continues at the Scotland Office and Alun Cairns at the Wales Office.
Those out included Stephen Crabb, who left for “family reasons”, Theresa Villiers, Nicky Morgan, John Whittingdale, and Oliver Letwin.
After George Osborne was “resigned,” Michael Gove, the former Justice Secretary, whose candidacy for the leadership doomed Mr Johnson’s bid, was sacked.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond's advice to Theresa May: Don't mess with the people of Scotland
Meantime, David Cameron began his first day as a former prime minister as the latest resident of one of the country's most desirable neighbourhoods.
The ex-Tory leader swapped No 10 for an address in London's upmarket Notting Hill shortly after tendering his resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
Mr Cameron was pictured earlier today in a blue polo shirt and casual jacket, smart jeans and black shoes as he left for the school run with a heavy police presence on the tree-lined street.
He, his wife Samantha, and their children Nancy, 12, Elwen, 10, and Florence, five, are all believed to be staying at the property for the time being.
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