After a long summer of hustings, droughts and mud-slinging, Liz Truss remains strong favourite to be named the new Conservative Party leader.
The winner of the weeks-long contest will be officially announced on Monday 5 September, and will take over from Boris Johnson as prime minster the following day.
The foreign secretary has been so comfortably far out in front of Rishi Sunak in Tory party members’ polls that her team has been able to ditch interviews and begin assembling the next cabinet.
With many high-profile MPs having picked sides early on in the race, there are plenty of potential candidates for Ms Truss to choose from.
The Independent took a closer look at who is potentially in line for senior roles.
Kwasi Kwarteng
The business secretary is widely expected to be named chancellor.
The key Truss ally has backed the frontrunner’s decision to prioritise tax cuts over “handout” support, despite the huge energy-bill rises to come this autumn. The 47-year-old former Etonian also shares Truss’s instinctive dislike of windfall taxes, despite growing calls for oil and gas giants to pay more.
Mr Kwarteng and Ms Truss co-authored a book called Britannia Unchained, which made the case for a low-tax economy and smaller government.
Mr Kwarteng, who is married with one child, has been the member of parliament for Spelthorne since 2010.
Suella Braverman
The former attorney general – who was herself backed by Brexiteer “Spartans” and others on the right during the initial rounds of the leadership contest – is the leading contender to replace Priti Patel as home secretary.
Ms Braverman has staked her claim as one of the party’s top warriors in the so-called “culture wars”, with her attacks on left-wing academia, any expansion of trans rights in schools, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Cambridge graduate chaired the European Research Group in 2017 and has been the member of parliament for Fareham in Hampshire since 2015. Ms Truss recently hinted at a key role for the 42-year-old married mother of two, who swung in behind the frontrunner after dropping out of the race.
Ms Patel said last week that her own record as home secretary “speaks volumes”, suggesting she wanted Ms Truss to keep her in the role.
James Cleverly
The former Tory chair, who took over as education secretary in the aftermath of the putsch against Mr Johnson, is said to be in line to take over from Ms Truss as foreign secretary.
Having worked alongside the leadership contest favourite as a minister of state at the Foreign Office, Mr Cleverly is part of the so-called “Greenwich set” of senior Tory figures close to Ms Truss who live in and around the southeast-London suburb.
The 52-year-old has served as MP for Essex since 2015. He is married with two children, and has been an army reserve since 1989.
Previously he served as minister of state for Europe and North America, and for the Middle East and north Africa before that.
Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Brexit opportunities minister – who has spent recent months eyeing up minor EU regulations to scrap while hammering civil servants to get back to work – is said to be all set for a big change in role.
Mr Rees-Mogg was reportedly considered for the job of levelling up secretary, raising eyebrows about the idea of a wealthy Etonian from Somerset leading the charge on the North-South divide.
But weekend reports suggest that the married father of six is now in line for a top economic role – possibly as business secretary. He is understood already to have held talks with oil and gas companies in a bid to boost North Sea drilling.
Another Etonian, and the son of a peer, Mr Rees-Mogg has represented North East Somerset since 2010 and was elected chair of the ERG in 2018.
Therese Coffey
The work and pensions secretary, a long-standing friend of Ms Truss, was briefly mooted as a possible choice for chief whip. But Ms Coffey is set to take on the role of health secretary, The Independent understands. Whitehall insiders said that she had been seen meeting with the department’s current permanent secretary.
A popular figure in the party, she would be tasked with sorting out disciplinary processes – widely seen to have gone awry during the Christopher Pincher saga, which helped to lead to Mr Johnson’s downfall.
Ms Coffey, 50, previously served under Theresa May as under secretary for Defra, and has been the MP for Suffolk Coastal since 2010.
Nadine Dorries
Mr Johnson was said to be considering a peerage for his loyal ally, the current culture secretary, as part of his resignation honours list.
But Ms Truss has told allies that Ms Dorries will keep her job as culture secretary, if she wants it, because of “unfinished business with the BBC and tech giants”, according to reports elsewhere.
Ms Dorries has been the MP for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005, and as an author has published 16 books.
The 65-year-old mother of three was famously stripped of the Tory whip in 2012 when she took part in I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, but was readmitted to parliament the year after.
Iain Duncan Smith
Another key ally during the leadership contest, the former Tory leader has been tipped to be rewarded with a role as Commons leader.
Iain Duncan Smith shares Ms Truss’s views on tax and foreign policy, and could help to cement some support among right-wing backbenchers.
The 68-year-old served in the army between 1975 and 1981 as a lieutenant in the Scots Guards.
A father of four, he has been the member of parliament for Chingford and Wood Green, formerly Chingford, since 1992. He became party leader in 2001 with support from Margaret Thatcher, but was ousted in 2003 after losing a vote of no confidence.
Kemi Badenoch
Having successfully positioned herself as the “anti-woke” candidate, Ms Badenoch is a top contender for the role of education secretary, according to some reports. But The Independent understands that she has been considered for the role of international trade secretary.
A senior role for the former equalities minister would be popular with the Tory grassroots, as she won praise from members for her own bid to replace Mr Johnson.
The 42-year-old married mother of three was elected to Saffron Walden in 2017. A firm Brexiteer, Ms Badenoch has opposed critical race theory and in 2018 was accused of mocking trans rights in a leaked audio recording.
More recently she clashed with Ms Dorries over the Online Safety Bill, saying: “We should not be legislating for hurt feelings.”
Lord Frost
Team Truss has reportedly been in talks with the former Brexit negotiator and minister, who became a fierce critic of Mr Johnson’s government after quitting at the end of last year. Ms Truss is thought to want him in charge at the Cabinet Office, as the new chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Oxford graduate joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1987, worked as economic counsellor to the British embassy in Paris, and acted as ambassador to Denmark from 2006 to 2008.
Lord Frost, 57, was the UK’s chief negotiator for exiting the European Union in 2019, and became chief negotiator for Task Force Europe in 2020.
John Redwood
Reports suggest Ms Truss is considering bringing back right-wing Brexiteer Sir John Redwood – a former minister in Thatcher’s government – for a junior role at the Treasury. The backbencher said he would be “happy to help”, but suggested he hadn’t held talks about a position.
Mr Redwood has been the MP for Wokingham since 1987 and is a former secretary of state for Wales. The Oxford graduate and father of two served in the shadow cabinets of both William Hague and Michael Howard.
Another firm Brexiteer, he is a member of the Eurosceptic pressure group Leave Means Leave.
Ben Wallace and other contenders
The popular defence secretary – who came out in support of Ms Truss as she and Mr Sunak started their campaigning among members – is one of the few backed to carry on with their current duties.
Other allies who may be considered for top ministerial posts include Penny Mordaunt, the current trade minister, despite running Ms Truss close to one of the final two spots in the contest.
Mr Sunak was thought to have been considered as health secretary, but the nastiness of the contest appears to have ended the idea. Mr Sunak has effectively ruled out serving in a Truss cabinet by saying that ministers had to agree on the “big things”.
Tom Tugendhat – the foreign affairs select committee chief who went up against Truss in the early rounds of the contest – could also be considered for a junior ministerial role at the Foreign Office.
