Suella Braverman: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacks home secretary

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked one of his top team, the home secretary Suella Braverman.

As home secretary, Mrs Braverman was responsible for national security, policing and immigration policies in the UK.

The decision follows and argument over a controversial article she wrote without getting full sign off from the Prime Minster's team for what she wanted to say.

Although Mrs Braverman said: "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary", a letter she wrote after her departure has been very critical of the prime minister.

Mrs Braverman's sacking kickstarted some other major changes by Rishi Sunak, as he reshaped his top team of ministers.

Together they are known as the Cabinet and help with the running of the UK government - when they're changed like this, people call it a reshuffle.

The other big news from the reshuffle was former prime minister David Cameron unexpectedly returning as foreign secretary, meaning he represents the government abroad.

Mr Cameron was prime minister between 2010-2015 but has been out of Parliament since he stood down as prime minister in 2016, following the Brexit referendum where he campaigned to stay in the EU, but lost.

Suella Braverman was called Sue-Ellen when she was born, but preferred Suella after teachers shortened her name at school. Her parents were both of Indian origin, and met in London.

Mrs Braverman has spoken about how her parents' journey and emphasis on hard work and integration deeply influenced her.

Before becoming a politician she was a lawyer, but had an interest in politics from a young age.

She was first appointed home secretary by the then prime minister, Liz Truss, in September 2022.

But she was later made to resign from her post after sending an official document from her personal email - which was against ministerial rules that set out the standards of behaviour expected of members of the government.

Rishi Sunak brought her back into position six days later when he replaced Liz Truss as the new prime minister.

Supporters of Suella Braverman often speak of her as a politician who is strong in her beliefs, and who represents the views of many people in the UK.

Her critics have described her as a divisive figure who is not a team player.

After her departure Mrs Braverman wrote a public letter full of criticism of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

She said he had failed on key policies and broken promises on issues such as immigration and had failed to rise to the challenges she feels the country is facing.

In her letter, she said she made a deal with Mr Sunak to support his leadership on certain conditions which had either "betrayed" or, she suggested, he never intended to keep to.

She added: "Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently."

A No 10 spokesman thanked Mrs Braverman for her service, but added: "The prime minister was proud to appoint a strong, united team yesterday focused on delivering for the British people."

Mrs Braverman wrote an article in The Times criticising the way the Metropolitan police handled protests in London about the current conflict in Gaza.

The article accused the Metropolitan Police - the police force for Greater London - of bias in the policing of protests. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - Ms Braverman's boss - asked her to tone down parts of the article, but she did not.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some Conservative MPs had called for Suella Braverman to be sacked.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, said Mrs Braverman actions were "highly irresponsible" and inflamed tensions, making the job of the police harder.

As home secretary, Suella Braverman pushed for a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, external, a country in east Africa, saying it would discourage people from coming to the UK in small boats, and arguing that it would prevent people making the often dangerous journey across the English Channel.

Many groups, charities and politicians criticised the plans, describing them as immoral. But the government said it was the best way of tackling an issue that was important to many voters.

In June, a court of appeal ruling found that the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful.

On Wednesday this week, the supreme court will give its judgment on the Rwanda plan after the Home Office challenged the court of appeal decision.

She has also been criticised for other comments she has made. Mrs Braverman claimed on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, that some people living on the streets were doing so as "a lifestyle choice". She also called for restrictions on giving tents to homeless people.

The comments prompted backlash from some politicians from her own political party, as well as opposition MPs and homeless charities.

Supporters of Mrs Braverman have said that she speaks her mind with views that many of the public share.