Damian Green was the third minister to leave the cabinet in a space of weeks, after the defence secretary and international development minister both quit - all three following separate scandals. "The prime minister has started a refresh of her ministerial team," said the official Downing Street Twitter feed.
The chairman of May's Conservative party, Patrick McLoughlin, was the first to go, telling Sky News that his time in government had been a "great privilege". In a chaotic start, a new chairman was announced on Twitter - only for the tweet to be almost immediately deleted. A different minister, Brandon Lewis, was then confirmed to the role.
McLoughlin had been widely tipped for the sack after last summer's disastrous snap election, in which the Tories lost their parliamentary majority. He also drew fire after a protester interrupted May's speech to the party conference in October - an address that was also marred by a coughing fit and a collapsing set.
It was one of several low points in a tough year for the prime minister, who took over the helm of a divided government and country in July 2016 after the EU referendum. The cabinet reshuffle is being viewed as a chance at a fresh start, although it also brings risks of upsetting the delicate balance of eurosceptic and pro-European ministers.
May was reportedly set to create a new "no-deal" cabinet post with responsibility to prepare for a possible break-down in the talks with the European Union. Britain is due to leave the bloc in March 2019, and although it has reached agreement on the key separation issues, the toughest talks on the future relationship have yet to begin.
Ahead of the reshuffle announcement, Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire revealed he was stepping down for health reasons. He has failed to bring together feuding political parties in the British province, where the devolved government collapsed almost exactly one year ago. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a leading Brexit supporter, is expected to keep his job despite challenging the prime minister's strategy last year.
Brexit minister David Davis is also like to remain, along with Finance Minister Philip Hammond and International Trade Minister Liam Fox. After starting the two-year Brexit process in March last year, Britain struck a deal on the financial settlement, expatriate rights and the Irish border in December.