British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, November 13, fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who drew anger for accusing police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters. The government said Braverman left her job as part of a Cabinet shuffle as Sunak shakes up his top government team. Sunak was under growing pressure to fire Braverman, a divisive figure popular with the authoritarian wing of the governing Conservative Party.
It was not immediately clear who will replace Braverman, who was appointed to the post when Sunak became prime minister just over a year ago. Following her dismissal, Braverman said "it has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve" as home secretary. "I will have more to say in due course," she added.
In a highly unusual attack on the police last week, Braverman said London's police force was ignoring lawbreaking by "pro-Palestinian mobs." She described demonstrators calling for a cease-fire in Gaza as "hate marchers."
Braverman wrote an article for The Times in which she said police "play favorites when it comes to protesters" and acted more leniently toward pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Black Lives Matter supporters than to right-wing protesters or football hooligans. The article was not approved in advance by the prime minister's office, as would usually be the case.
On Saturday, far-right protesters scuffled with police and tried to confront a large pro-Palestinian march by hundreds of thousands through the streets of London. Critics accused Braverman of helping to inflame tensions.
Braverman, a 43-year-old lawyer, has become a leader of the party's populist wing by advocating ever-tougher curbs on migration and a war on human rights protections, liberal social values and what she has called the "tofu-eating wokerati."
As home secretary, she was responsible for law and order and immigration policy and championed the government's stalled plan to send asylum-seekers who arrive in Britain in boats on a one-way trip to Rwanda. A UK Supreme Court ruling on whether the policy is legal is due on Wednesday.
Critics say Braverman has been building her profile to position herself for a party leadership contest that could come if the Conservatives lose power in an election expected next year. Opinion polls for months have put the party 15 to 20 points behind Labour.
The firing comes as the ruling Conservatives confirmed a major reshuffle of Sunak's top ministers was underway – his first since becoming the country's leader on October 25, 2022. "Here we go," the party said on X, formerly Twitter. "Today @RishiSunak strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future. Stay tuned for the latest."