David Cameron has made a dramatic return to Government as Foreign Secretary in a reshuffle triggered by Rishi Sunak’s decision to sack Suella Braverman from the Home Office.
The former prime minister replaced James Cleverly as Foreign Secretary and will be given a peerage.
Mr Cleverly takes on the job of Home Secretary after Mr Sunak ended Mrs Braverman’s controversial tenure in the job.
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The Conservative Party said Mr Sunak is conducting a ministerial reshuffle as he "strengthens his team in Government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future."
But sacking one of the leading figures on the Tory right could pose difficulties for the Prime Minister as he seeks to get his party united behind him and ready for a general election expected next year.
Ms Braverman had accused police of “playing favourites” with pro-Palestinian protesters in a newspaper opinion article.
She was also accused of “deliberately stoking division” by using Northern Ireland as a point of comparison to characterise pro-Palestinian demonstrations planned for the UK as “hate marches”.
Last week, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood called for the removal of Ms Braverman from her position as he branded the comments as “aggressive ignorance”.
Mr Eastwood said: “The Home Secretary’s comments in an article in The Times today are so far removed from reality that it is impossible to come to any determination other than she is deliberately stoking division to bolster her own brand among the Conservative Party’s right wing.
“It’s honestly like reading a pound shop Enoch Powell piece."
However, DUP North Antrim MP Ian Paisley Ian Paisley defended Ms Braverman's comments and criticized what he called “pant wetting” over the row.
Speaking in the House of Commons, he referred to her comments on Northern Ireland "hate marches", saying: “I have witnessed Irish nationalists, and republicans, which the Home Secretary refers to in her article, running too quickly to the support of Hamas, of Colombian terrorists, to Hezbollah and a whole host of others. The Home Secretary is correct to call this out and to see it as she sees it. This house is right to back her.”
