Liz Truss’s new government will be the UK’s first without a White man holding one of the so-called four great offices of state.

The new premier named Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer, making him Britain’s first Black finance minister. Suella Braverman, who is of Indian heritage, was appointed home secretary, while James Cleverly, who identifies as mixed race, was assigned the role of top diplomat as foreign secretary. 

Truss herself is the third female British prime minister.

Following a bruising runoff against Rishi Sunak, Truss has prioritized loyalty and ideological alignment above all. She built her campaign on appealing to the right of the party that still obsesses over former leader Margaret Thatcher, and her selections for the biggest jobs in British politics reflect that.

The Cambridge University and Harvard educated Kwarteng, for example, has a history of collaboration with Truss, including co-authoring a 2012 book, “Britannia Unchained,” advocating deregulation and free markets. Braverman, who has been a cabinet minister for less than a year as Attorney General, is a strong supporter of the government’s migrant deportation program.

Even so, the diversity of the Cabinet also allows the Conservatives to seek political capital and point to the fact that when it comes to representation, they have historically fared much better than the main opposition Labour Party. 

It’s been a Tory line attack ever since the days of Thatcher, with Labour yet to appoint its first female leader. It was used often under Johnson, whose three chancellors -- including Sunak -- were from ethnic minorities, and who also appointed previous Home Secretary Priti Patel and Braverman to his top team.

Yet representation hasn’t spared the Tories from criticism over their policies and approach to race issues, including over police powers and laws making it harder to claim asylum -- which Truss has pledged to continue.

Bloomberg