Key statistics about the new Cabinet
The proportion of women in the Cabinet has dropped.
Here are some statistics about Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, based on appointments announced so far:
– A total of 33 ministers are entitled to attend the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister and the Chief Whip. This is up on 29 in Theresa May’s Cabinet.
– The average age of the new Cabinet is 48, down slightly on 51 for the previous Cabinet.
– There are eight female ministers, meaning women make up 24% of the Cabinet. This is lower than the proportion of women in Theresa May’s last Cabinet, which was 31%.
– The combined Cabinet experience of all 33 ministers adds up to approximately 57 years. This is around half the equivalent number for Mrs May’s last Cabinet, whose combined experience totalled 109 years.
– Some 14 of the 33 ministers in Mr Johnson’s Cabinet publicly backed the Leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum – more than double the number (six) in the previous Cabinet.
– All but three of the MPs in the new Cabinet voted in favour of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons on March 29 2019. The three who voted against were Jo Johnson, Priti Patel and Theresa Villiers.
– A total of six members of the Cabinet have a BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) background: James Cleverly, Kwasi Kwarteng, Sajid Javid, Priti Patel, Alok Sharma and Rishi Sunak. This compares with just one BAME minister (Sajid Javid) in Theresa May’s final Cabinet.
– It is the first time in history that two of the four main offices of state (prime minister, chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary) have been held by non-white politicians: Sajid Javid as Chancellor and Priti Patel as Home Secretary.
– Nearly two-thirds of the new Cabinet (21, or 64%) attended an independent school, according to analysis from the Sutton Trust. Nine attended a comprehensive and three a grammar school. By contrast, 30% of the Cabinet that Theresa May formed on becoming prime minister in 2016 was independently educated. The equivalent figure for David Cameron’s first Cabinet in 2010 was 62%.
– Of the 21 ministers who attended an independent school, four members – Boris Johnson, Jo Johnson, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jacob Rees-Mogg – were pupils at Eton College.
