Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel retain top jobs as UK PM Johnson shuffles Cabinet

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday undertook a reshuffle of his top team, keeping two of his senior Indian-origin Cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel in their posts.

Sunak will remain next door to Johnson at Downing Street as his Chancellor of the Exchequer and Patel, who had been at the centre of some speculation of being moved, remains in her post as Home Secretary.

Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, has been in his post since February last year and has led the UK's financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patel, whose parents are of Gujarati-Ugandan descent, has been the Home Secretary since July 2019.

However, among the senior ministers being shuffled around include Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who accepted a demotion to take charge as the new Justice Secretary, alongside his other roles of Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime

Minister.

Raab, who came under fire in recent weeks over his handling of the aftermath of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the evacuation efforts from Kabul, had been at the centre of speculation about his future as the head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) one of the top-most Cabinet posts in the British

government.