Zac Goldsmith has been sacked as an environment minister as Liz Truss builds her new cabinet.
Lord Goldsmith was a close ally and friend of Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie.
The Guardian first reported that the new prime minister has lost the animal welfare brief and will also no longer attend cabinet.
However, he retains his other role at the Foreign Office, where his responsibilities include the Pacific and international environment.
The dismissal comes despite Downing Street saying the reshuffle had been stopped, as politics largely ground to a halt during the period of mourning following the Queen’s death.
The sacking of the long-time environmentalist could add to concerns the new administration could turn away from green issues.
Goldsmith himself warned against such a shift during the Tory leadership contest.
Speaking in parliament in July, Goldsmith warned Truss and Rishi Sunak not to “walk away” from animal welfare issues as the party not would would be “punished by the electorate” but would deserve it.
“It is your duty and our duty, and everyone else’s duty, to punish any leader of any credible party that does not take these issues seriously because they simply do not merit the privilege of government,” he said.
According to The Guardian, Goldsmith said he was “very sad” to be going in a farewell letter to staff at the the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
He wrote: “We have so much more to do to turn the tide here.
“The UK is, after all, one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries. But if Defra continues to get the backing you need and deserve across government, you can and you will turn the tide.”
Johnson made Lord Goldsmith a life peer shortly after voters dumped him as the MP for Richmond Park in a defeat to the Lib Dems in 2019.
It paved the way for Johnson to hand Goldsmith a job in government, first in the Foreign Office before making him an environment minister.
In 2016, Goldsmith stood as the Tory candidate for London mayor but lost to Labour’s Sadiq Khan.