Date formed 13 July 2016 Head of state Queen Elizabeth II Status in legislature Majority | Head of government Theresa May Member party Conservative Party Opposition cabinet Corbyn Shadow Cabinet | |
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Theresa May formed the May ministry on 13 July 2016 after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to begin a new government following the resignation of David Cameron from the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The ministry, a Conservative majority government, followed the second Cameron ministry, which had been formed following the May 2015 British general election, and which was dissolved in the aftermath of the June 2016 referendum on British withdrawal from the European Union.
History
May announced her choices for Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary in the evening of 13 July: Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and Boris Johnson were respectively appointed to the first three posts, while Michael Fallon continued as Defence Secretary. David Davis was appointed to the new post of Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, while Liam Fox became Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. Greg Clark, who was made business secretary, was mistakenly appointed as President of the Board of Trade by the Privy Council, and held the appointment for four days before the mistake was corrected.
May's choices for the remaining cabinet posts were announced on 14 July. Justine Greening, previously international development secretary, was promoted to education secretary, and the vacancy left by Greening was filled by Priti Patel. Elizabeth Truss, formerly environment secretary, was given the justice portfolio. Andrea Leadsom, previously a junior energy minister, and also the final opponent of Theresa May in the 2016 Conservative leadership election, was made environment secretary. James Brokenshire and Karen Bradley, both formerly junior ministers at the Home Office, were given the posts of Northern Ireland secretary and culture respectively. Damian Green took the post of work and pensions secretary, and Chris Grayling was made transport secretary. Finally, Sajid Javid was given the local government brief.
Jeremy Hunt, Alun Cairns, and David Mundell retained the posts of health secretary, Welsh secretary, and Scottish secretary, respectively, which they had held during the second Cameron ministry. In contrast, May removed five members of the second Cameron ministry from office: Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin.
In addition, May appointed Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy as Downing Street Chiefs of Staff. Both had been political advisers to her at the Home Office, then worked outside government for a brief period before coming back to work on her leadership campaign.