Who would be in Liz Truss’s cabinet?

Who would be her chancellor? What would Rishi Sunak do? What about the deputy prime minister? John Rentoul speculates

The guessing game is irresistible, so let us get to work (Getty)

Predictions of cabinet reshuffles are totally pointless and usually wrong. Actually, they may not be pointless: 62 per cent of Conservative Party members told YouGov the other day that “suggestions of which other MPs would be appointed to senior cabinet roles by each leader” were “important” in deciding which candidate to support. (Which is odd, as both candidates refuse to discuss possible jobs.)

But they are usually wrong. I remember one of the milestones on Alastair Campbell’s road to a rocky relationship with journalists was when he handed out CDs by a band called Garbage to members of the parliamentary lobby for their duff predictions for one of Tony Blair’s reshuffles.

Still, the guessing game is also irresistible, so let us get to work. First stop: who would be Truss’s chancellor? Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, is the favourite in the betting, but I am not so sure. This is the most important relationship in any government: Kwarteng has a mind of his own and a willingness to take risks that could make it difficult from the start. The safer option would be Simon Clarke, the chief secretary already at the Treasury. Or if Truss wanted to make history by appointing the first female chancellor (a label she once wanted herself), she could appoint Therese Coffey, another of her early and vocal supporters.