Tory toff Jacob Rees-Mogg has quit government after conceding he would not get a job in Rishi Sunak's Cabinet, despite recanting his claim the new Prime Minister was a "socialist".
The old ally of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss was the first to acknowledge on Tuesday that he was out as the newly appointed Conservative leader began a Government shake-up.
A source close to the outgoing Business Secretary told the PA news agency: "He knows he was very close to the previous two regimes and it didn't seem likely he was going to be appointed in the new Cabinet. He's happy to support the Prime Minister from the backbenches."
Rees-Mogg was asked about his previous comments about Sunak after he was appointed PM, he told the Telegraph: "That was said in the run up to the leadership campaign, under very different circumstances. The leader of the Conservative party is clearly not a socialist."
Meanwhile, Brandon Lewis has said he is out as Justice Secretary as he vowed to support Sunak from the backbenches.
Sunak will look to build a new Cabinet that might unite a Tory party in turmoil after Truss lasted just 49 days as Prime Minister.
He won the Tory leadership contest on Monday without a vote after rivals Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson dropped out of the race. Allies hope he will stabilise the party following Johnson's dramatic downfall and his successor's fleeting but tumultuous tenure.
Sunak is expected to quickly begin assembling a top team to portray a measure of stability to both the Conservatives and the country.
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