They’re all minted: Here are the insane net worths of the new Cabinet members

Boris Johnson’s cabinet is crumbling before our eyes – in the wake of the Chris Pincher scandal, Partygate, and too many other scandals to count. It seems like the Prime Minister is intent on staying, hurriedly promoting people to fill the gaps left by resignations of people like Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak.

Today, Keir Starmer called the new cabinet “a Z-list cast of nodding dogs” – but exactly who has Boris managed to scramble around him? Surprise – loads of the new cabinet are minted, and the country is once again being run by the super-rich. Ideal for the middle of a cost of living crisis. You’ve heard of the Forbes rich list… but now introducing, the staggering net worths of Boris’s new panic cabinet.

Nadhim Zahawi – chancellor

Not even 10 minutes after Sajid Javid rocked the boat by quitting, Rishi Sunak resigned as chancellor of the exchequer, saying “we cannot continue like this”. Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi cashed in on this, being promoted and becoming the new chancellor.

Zahawi is pretty bloody rich. He has a reported estimated net worth of up to £100m. His wife and their companies reportedly have a huge property portfolio, including a £20m London townhouse, an industrial estate and a country house with stables.

When he became a minister he quit as a director of their firm, and transferred his 50 per cent shares to his wife.

The Mirror reported last year that Zahawi was paid £1.3m in his time working at an oil company, including a final “settlement payment” £285,000 when he became a government minister in 2018.

Labour MP Zarah Sultana said: “So just like with Rishi Sunak, we again have a super-rich Chancellor who will be on the side of the super-rich.” Earlier this year Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, appeared in the Sunday Times rich list with their net worth valued at an eye-watering £730m. Sunak is believed to be the richest man in the house of commons.

Michelle Donelan – education secretary

After Zahawi’s promotion, unis minister Michelle Donelan was given the new job of education secretary. Donelan went to York Uni and studied history and politics.

In November last year the Good Law Project reported her partner runs the commercial unit at a PPE company that’s been “awarded numerous PPE contracts”, supplying NHS hospitals, government Covid testing sites, and unis. The company sold 20 million units of PPE between the start of the pandemic and when the report was published last year.

At the time, a spokesperson for the cabinet office said: “It would be wrong to suggest there is any conflict of interest. The Minister’s role at DfE has no involvement with PPE procurement decisions or the business of the company her partner works for.” And a Department for Education spokesperson said: “The Minister declared her partner’s employment, which was not deemed relevant for publication.”

Steve Barclay – health secretary

The first government resignation last night was Sajid Javid as health secretary, with his letter saying Johnson’s government was no longer “acting in the national interest”. No10’s former chief of staff Steve Barclay was quickly appointed. Barclay’s net worth is unclear.

Dominic Raab – deputy Prime Minister

Staying loyal to Boris is deputy PM Dominic Raab, who has been in the role since September last year. He went to both Oxford and Cambridge unis, before training at a law firm and working as a solicitor. His wife is a marketing exec and worked at Google until 2020. Raab has a reported net worth of £1.3m.

Jacob Rees-Mogg – Brexit minister

Another loyalist is Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is minister of state for Brexit and was once told off for lying down in Parliament. In 2019, Rees-Mogg’s net worth was estimated to be “well over £100 million”, it was reported.

This is likely to include his wife, Helena de Chair’s, expected estimated inheritance. She is the daughter of famous poet and aristocrat Somerset de Chair and Lady Juliet Tadgell. Her mother has an estimated net worth of £45m, which it is reported Helena stands to inherit along with Kent stately home Bourne Park.

In 2018, it was reported Rees-Mogg lives in a £5.6m, five-storey townhouse in Westminster in central London

Priti Patel – home secretary

Home secretary Priti Patel is also staying. Her net worth is reportedly over £2m, with Patel studying economics at Keele and doing a masters at Essex Uni. Since then she’s worked in politics.

Last year the Home Office was forced to clarify that expenses of over £100,000 were in fact for PPE – not on doing Priti Patel’s eyebrows, as some people were saying. It confirmed the expenses were not Priti Patel’s, and said: “It is completely false to say the Home Office has spent money on beauty products, it was PPE.”

Michael Gove – housing secretary

Michael Gove – housing secretary – has a reported net worth of up to £1.6m. Last July he and his ex-wife, journalist Sarah Vine, announced they were finalising their divorce. In May this year, they sold their old family home – a five-bed west London house – for a reported £2,095,000.

Nadine Dorries – culture secretary

Of course Nadine Dorries wasn’t going to quit on Boris Johnson. The ever-loyal culture secretary is also an author and has reportedly sold over 2.5 million copies of her books. She’s written 15 different books – mainly based in Liverpool, where she’s from – and receives royalties payment for these as well as advances for new work.

The reviews for her books are pretty rubbish, but according to the Mirror she’s earned £157k from them so fair play. In 2013, Dorries was reportedly paid £40k for appearing on I’m A Celeb.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Surprise! New Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi is… a multi-millionaire

• Loads of people are resigning from Boris’s government, but at least we have these 18 memes

• LIVE: The Tories who are staying and those who have resigned in the wake of the Pincher scandal