William Hague is standing down as foreign secretary and is to leave politics next year, it was announced last night as David Cameron carried out a bloody cabinet purge.
Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, and Ken Clarke, the minister without portfolio, were other big heads to roll in a cull of the “male, pale and stale” that amounted to the biggest upheaval of the government since 2010.
David Willetts, the universities minister, Dominic Grieve, the attorney-general, and Andrew Lansley, leader of the House of Commons, are also among the slew of middle-ranking ministers to leave office.
Senior Conservatives warned last night that the sacking of Mr Paterson would leave a key wing on the party’s right unrepresented in the prime minister’s team. His positions on