Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith and Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom are the first casualties as Boris Johnson begins a cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Smith was the first senior minister to be sacked – he was in his cabinet role for 204 days.
Esther McVey is also out as housing minister as the prime minister re-jigs his top team.
Most of the cabinet were appointed when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July.
Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, paid tribute to Mr Smith following his sacking, saying his dedication to the role had been “incredible”.
She tweeted: “Spoke with JulianSmithUK a short time ago to thank him for his help in getting devolution restored. We may not have always agreed (we did sometimes) but his dedication to the role was incredible. Best wishes to him and his family. Always welcome in Fermanagh.”
The prime minister left his cabinet largely untouched following his party’s decisive election victory in December, pending what sources suggested at the time would be a more significant overhaul after the UK left the EU on 31 January.
A Downing Street source told the BBC the PM would “reward those MPs who have worked hard to deliver on this government’s priorities to level up the whole country and deliver the change people voted for last year”.
Senior figures such as Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel are not expected to be moved, but others are considered more vulnerable.
Mr Johnson is expected to make changes at junior ministerial level – namely parliamentary under-secretaries of state – that could see a 50/50 gender balance in a push to promote female talent.
There is also a plan to make at least 60% of parliamentary private secretaries women by the summer – compared with just 18% at the moment.
Source:Â bbc.com