Dominic Raab has resigned from government, leaving a vacancy for justice secretary.
Rishi Sunak is expected to hold a mini-reshuffle over the coming days to plug the gap in the cabinet – but who will he pick?
Here are some of the most likely runners and riders to replace Mr Raab running the Ministry of Justice.
Victoria Prentis
The Justice Secretary does not have to be a lawyer, but the legal profession is usually pleased when they are.
A senior lawyer and Kings Counsel, Victoria Prentis is currently the Attorney General and would be one of a number of logical picks to replace Mr Raab.
MP for Banbury since 2015 she has previously had ministerial positions at the DWP and Defra.
Victoria Atkins
The financial secretary to the Treasury is a barrister by training and can boast of having prosecuted drug-trafficking gangs. She also specialised in prosecuting fraud.
She has also already held a number of relevant briefs in government: including Minister for Prisons at the Ministry of Justice, and Minister for Crime Safeguarding and Vulnerability at the Home Office.
MP for Louth and Horncastle since 2015.
Lucy Frazer
The culture secretary is also a lawyer (indeed a KC) and would be a natural fit for Justice Secretary.
A former Solicitor General for England and Wales, she also managed to outlaw up-skirting via a Private Member’s Bill.
MP for South East Cambridgeshire since 2015, being appointed Justice Secretary would mark her return to the ministry where she worked as a junior minister in 2018 and 2019.
Alex Chalk
Another King's Counsel, Chalk is currently ministry of defence procurement at the MoD.
Previous government roles have Justice Secretary written all over them, however: He was Solicitor General for about a year in 2021 and 2022, and was also Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, plus a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice.
He's been MP for Cheltenham since 2015.
