Grant Shapps appointed as new UK Home Secretary

London : UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday appointed Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps as the new Home Secretary after the departure of Suella Braverman earlier today.

“The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP @grantshapps has been appointed Secretary of State for the Home Department @ukhomeoffice,” UK Prime Minister’s office said in a tweet. Indian-origin Home Secretary Braverman tendered her resignation today, citing “technical infringement of the rules” she committed while sending official documents to a parliamentary colleague.

“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,” Braverman said in a letter posted on her Twitter handle.

In the letter addressed to PM Truss, she also expressed concerns about the direction of the government and said key pledges made to voters have been broken.

“It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this Government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boats crossings,” she added.

Braverman said she committed “technical infringement of the rules” by sending official documents from her personal email to a parliamentary colleague.

“I sent an official document from my personal email to a trusted parliamentary colleague as part of policy engagement, and with the aim of garnering support for government policy on migration. This constitutes a technical infringement of the rules,” she said.

This resignation comes less than a week after UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after serving for even less than six weeks. Kwarteng was sacked after the new government’s September 23 plan of massive tax cuts resulted in the plunging of British government bonds.