Truss ally served less than two months in office

Simon Clarke has left his post as housing secretary as Rishi Sunak begins his reshuffle of the cabinet.

The Middlesborough South and East Cleveland MP was one of 10 to leave the cabinet this afternoon, alongside Jacob Rees-Mogg and Robert Buckland.

simon clarke 3

Clarke had previously criticised the new prime minister as

It is unclear whether Clark left his post voluntarily or was sacked. He tweeted that it had been a “great privilege” to serve as secretary of state for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

A strong ally of Liz Truss and critic of the new prime minister, Clarke’s fate was likely sealed as soon as Sunak succeeded in his bid for the Tory leadership bid.

During the last leadership contest in the summer, Clarke attacked Sunak harshly, co-authoring an article describing the ex-chancellor’s economic policies as “Labour-lite”.

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Clarke had been an advocate of building on the green belt and of Robert Jenrick’s controversial planning reforms, but with less than two months in office, he will leave little in the way of a legacy.

Whoever replaced Clarke in the ministry will become the fourth housing secretary in less than a year.

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