2016 UK Brexit Purge

The 2016 UK Brexit Purge, simply referred to as the Brexit Purge, was a major cabinet reshuffle initiated by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, whom, in response to the success of the Remain vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, sacked a number of his cabinet members deemed to be pro-Leave, and replacing them with pro-Remain Conservative MPs, in an effort to, as described by BBC journalist, Anna Watson, "settle the Brexit split once and for all", whilst also achieving complete political unity among his cabinet members.

In the end, out of the thirty total members of the Cameron administration, including the Prime Minister himself, five of them, namely House of Commons leader, Chris Grayling, Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove, and Minister of State for Employment, Priti Patel, were all sacked from their respective cabinet posts, and were promptly replaced by pro-Remain MPs, namely Simon Burns, Chloe Smith, Peter Aldous, Amber Rudd, and Guto Bebb.

Due to the significance and the impact of the cabinet reshuffle, which would precede the subsequent 2016 United Kingdom political crisis, it has often been compared to the infamous "purge of the wets" in the 1980s by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom purged several members of her cabinet, known as "wets", due to their moderate opposition to Thatcher's hard-line policies. Nonetheless, the cabinet reshuffle, coupled with the decisive success of the Remain vote in the preceding 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, are said to have played an "important role" in further strengthening the Conservative Party's more centrist and moderate faction, which had then bitterly squared off with the more right-wing or Thatcherite faction of the party over the European Union issue. According to British political scientist, Thomas Hagan, "as much as the Conservative Party are or were in favour of leaving the European Union entirely, along with other right-wing policies, the fact that the majority of the United Kingdom said otherwise meant that, for the sake of keeping the country together, something they have always prided themselves upon for centuries, it is better to be more conciliatory and moderate politically in the long-term, unless one wants to risk unprecedented disaster".