This is the moment BBC journlaist Henry Zeffman looked baffled as he reported on David Cameron entering number 10 amid today’s cabinet reshuffle.
The BBC Chief Political Correspondent was standing outside Downing Street this morning to report on Rishi Sunak‘s changes to his cabinet, when he spotted the former Prime Minister walking up the road.
Mr Cameron has not been seen in politics since stepping down as leader of the country in 2016 and his appearance at government headquarters this morning caught the TV journalist off guard.
Mr Zeffman said to camera that he ‘didn’t think he had taken a funny turn’ as he saw the former Tory leader enter the famous Westminster building, but revealed it looked like the 57-year-old would become Mr Sunak’s new Foreign Secretary.
The BBC reporter said: ‘I’m a bit tired but I don’t think I’ve had a funny turn. But David Cameron has just gone into 10 Downing Street .
Henry Zeffman looked baffled as he reported on David Cameron entering number 10 amid today’s cabinet reshuffle
The BBC Chief Political Correspondent was standing outside Downing Street this morning to report on Rishi Sunak’s changes to his cabinet
‘I think, but I don’t know, but i think that means he’s going to be the new Foreign Secretary.’
Mr Zeffman had been live reporting all morning from Downing Street, following the announcement that Suella Braverman had been sacked as home secretary, after she defied No 10 over an article accusing the Met Police of bias in the policing of protests over the weekend.
Mrs Braverman was accused of stoking tension in the Times newspaper article ahead, in which she accused the police applying a “double standard” and took a tougher stance with right-wing demonstrations.
The article was not cleared by No10 and it later emerged Mrs Braverman had defied a Downing Street request to tone the article down.
Critics have blamed her for inflaming violence with far-right counter-protesters taking to the streets – although the Tories are badly split with supporters saying the grim scenes in the capital proved her right.
A Downing Street source said: ‘Rishi Sunak has asked Suella Braverman to leave government and she has accepted.’
In an ominous response, Ms 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.’
James Cleverly has been announced as her replacement, leaving the post of foreign secretary currently vacant, which Mr Cameron is now expected to take.
Mr Zeffman said to camera that he ‘didn’t think he had taken a funny turn’ as he saw the former Tory leader enter the famous Westminster building
Mr Cameron is the first member of the Upper House to hold the role since Lord Carrington in the 1980s
Suella Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak today
James Cleverly has been announced as Mrs Braverman’s replacement, leaving the post of foreign secretary currently vacant, which Mr Cameron is now expected to take
The PM is trying to restore his authority with potentially less than a year to a general election
Police detain a man during protests in central London on Saturday
Mr Cameron could be given a seat in the House of Lords to take up his new position, as he has not been an MP since 2016.
He is the first member of the Upper House to hold the role since Lord Carrington in the 1980s.
Just weeks ago Mr Cameron condemned Mr Sunak’s decision to downgrade the HS2 rail project.
Other major jobs are expected to switch hands, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay and Environment Secretary Therese Coffey tipped as under threat.
However, Jeremy Hunt is staying as Chancellor with barely a week until the Autumn Statement.
Lower down the food chain, health minister Neil O’Brien and long-serving education minister Nick Gibb have announced they are leaving government.
More than 100 arrests were made after clashes involving far-Right groups and pro-Palestine protesters in central London on Saturday.
Mrs Braverman’s intervention came as speculation rages about her political future after she clashed with Downing Street over a newspaper article, which critics said inflamed tensions.
Ahead of Saturday’s protest, the Home Secretary branded it a ‘hate march’ and accused officers of ‘playing favourites’ with protesters. Last night, amid rumours of a Cabinet reshuffle, she doubled down on her comments.
In uncompromising language, Mrs Braverman tweeted that chants, placards and posters carried by some protesters were ‘clearly criminal’ and marked a ‘new low’.
She added: ‘Anti-Semitism and other forms of racism together with the valorising of terrorism on such a scale is deeply troubling.
‘This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and anti-Semitism. Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary.’
