John Whittingdale is the first of the top team to confirm today that he has been sacked as media minister and said he would be returning to the back benches. The high-level reshuffle began yesterday after PMQs with Gavin Williamson, Dominic Raab, Oliver Dowden, Robert Jenrick, Robert Buckland and Amanda Milling all being removed from their respective posts. Liz Truss ascended to foreign secretary in place of Dominic Raab, making her the first woman in Conservative history to hold that office, while Nadhim Zahawi replaced the gaffe-prone Gavin Williamson. Nadine Dorries made the biggest leap yesterday going from health minister to culture secretary.

       Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Trevelyan has returned to Cabinet as international trade secretary and Simon Clarke will now be the chief secretary to the Treasury.

       Michael Gove has been given the housing secretary office with commentators suggesting this could mark the end of his strained relationship with Boris Johnson.

       The relationship has been frosty since 2016 when Mr Gove backed Mr Johnson's bid for prime minister before "stabbing him in the front" by declaring Mr Johnson unfit for office and then running for the top job himself.

       Almost half of Boris Johnson's new Cabinet went to Oxford or Cambridge universities and 60 percent attended a private school, a social mobility charity has said.

       The privately educated percentage is down slightly on the Prime Minister's previous cabinets with the last reshuffle holding 65 percent, data from the Sutton Trust suggested.

       The prime minister is expected to finalise his cabinet today and Friday.

       THIS BLOG IS NOW CLOSED.

       ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TARA FAIR AND FRANCESCA EDWARDS.