Rishi Sunak's reshuffle in full as Zahawi replaced and 4 departments created
Rishi Sunak has reshuffled his Cabinet to replaced sacked Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi and carried out a sweeping overhaul of Whitehall departments.
Trade Minister Greg Hands has been named as the new Tory chairman after Mr Zahawi was fired by the Prime Minister for breaching the ministerial code in a row over his tax affairs.
Mr Sunak created four new Whitehall departments including a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
There will be a new combined Department for Business and Trade, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has lost its digital focus.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps becomes the new Energy Security Secretary, while Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan will be the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
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International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch becomes Secretary of State for Business and Trade. She keeps her role as Minister for Women and Equalities.
Rishi Sunak has carried out a reshuffle to boost his flagging premiership (Phil Noble/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Lucy Frazer, a Housing Minister, has been handed a Cabinet post as the new Culture Secretary.
Her promotion means Mr Sunak must appoint a new minister - the 15th person to hold that job since 2010 and the sixth in a year.
She becomes the eighth Culture Secretary in five years.
The Tory chairman post will be key in the run up to the local elections in May, which will provide Mr Sunak with his first major electoral test since taking office.
Mr Hands is a London MP who backed Remain in 2016, which may raise eyebrows among Red Wall MPs.
Rishi Sunak unveiled a Whitehall shake up as he tries to boost his flagging premiership (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)No10 did not deny reports that Mr Sunak had wanted Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove for the new Science Secretary job but he insisted he didn't want to be moved.
The PM's spokesman said it would not comment on "speculation" about the new roles.
Downing Street said the new departments would underscore Mr Sunak's pledges to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the arrival of small boats.
Mr Sunak tweeted: "The Government needs to reflect the priorities of the British people and be designed to deliver for them.
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"These changes will focus teams on the issues that will build a better future for our children & grandchildren."
But the Liberal Democrats accused him of frittering away taxpayers' cash on "costly vanity projects".
Pointing to Institute for Government (IfG) analysis that setting up a new department costs £15million, the party estimated the bill could top £60million.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said that Rishi Sunak was "looking weaker by the day, and this rudderless reshuffle is the latest proof".
"This reshuffle will cost the public millions while failing to change the trajectory of this Government in crisis.
"Rather than fritter away tens of millions of taxpayers' cash on costly vanity projects, Sunak should spend the money where it's most needed.
"This cash could fund 25 million free school meals."
Nadhim Zahawi was sacked as Tory chairman after breaking ministerial rules (PA)It comes after weeks of bad headlines for the Prime Minister over his scandal-hit ministers as he struggles to turn around his party's dire poll ratings.
His pledge to govern with "integrity, professionalism and accountability" when he entered No10 more than a 100 days ago was called into question by the row over Mr Zahawi's tax affairs and the bullying claims dogging Deputy PM Dominic Raab.
Under-fire Deputy PM Dominic Raab will stay in post while an independent probe into a string of bullying allegations against him is completed.
Downing Street has resisted calls to sack Mr Raab and repeatedly said that top KC Adam Tolley must be allowed to complete his investigation.
Eight formal complaints - said to involve at least 24 officials - are being probed from Mr Raab's stints at the Ministry of Justice, the Foreign Office and the now defunct Brexit department.
Who are the new ministers? List in full
Grant Shapps
Grant Shapps has been named as the new Energy Security Secretary (Getty Images)Cabinet veteran Grant Shapps has been named as the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Rishi Sunak made him Business Secretary when he entered No10 in October - after a six-day stint as Home Secretary in the dying days of Liz Truss's administration.
He was Transport Secretary during the pandemic, when he was forced to cut short his own Spanish holiday after being caught out by changes to quarantine rules.
The Welwyn Hatfield MP has plenty of business experience, having famously offered get-rich quick tips masquerading as a tycoon called Michael Green.
He recently hit the headlines after tweeting a picture where Boris Johnson had been photoshopped out of it - which was later deleted.
Michelle Donelan
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has a new role as Secretary of State for ScienceThe new Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology moves over from her role as Culture Secretary where she has been overseeing the Government's flagship Online Harms legislation.
She was Education Secretary for just two days in Boris Johnson's final week in No10 after being appointed following a wave of Cabinet resignations.
But after 36 hours in the role, she resigned and urged Mr Johnson to stand down.
Ms Donelan announced she is pregnant at the end of last year and will take a short maternity leave in the coming months.
She is only the second Cabinet Minister to do so after the rules were changed to allow the-then Attorney General Suella Braverman to go on maternity leave.
Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch made it to the final four of the Tory leadership (PA)Former leadership contender Kemi Badenoch becomes the newly created Secretary of State for Business and Trade - and will keep her roles as President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities.
A darling of the Tory right, Ms Badenoch was a surprise hit in the summer leadership contest when she made it to the final four against Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
She was appointed as International Trade Secretary by Liz Truss in September and will keep this brief in her new department.
The Saffron Walden MP keeps her role as Equalities Minister where she is expected to continue her "war on woke".
She was elected in 2017 and used her maiden speech to praise Margaret Thatcher and to describe the Brexit referendum as "the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom".
Lucy Frazer
Lucy Frazer has been appointed as the new Culture Secretary (Surrey Live / Darren Pepe)The new Culture Secretary has been promoted to the Cabinet after several ministerial stints, most recently as Housing Minister.
Ms Frazer trained as a barrister, becoming a QC in 2013.
She was elected as MP for South East Cambridgeshire in 2015 and held a string of roles linked to her legal background, including Prisons Minister and Solicitor General.
Greg Hands
New Tory chairman Greg Hands arriving at Conservative party headquarters (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)The new Tory chairman has been an MP for Chelsea and Fulham (previously Hammersmith and Fulham) since 2005.
He has held a string of ministerial roles under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, mostly focused on trade.
Mr Hands was sent out on the airwaves to defend the Government as Ms Truss's administration was collapsing - insisting MPs should back her shortly before she sacked Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
He campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum and argued that leaving the single market would have profound consequences.
However he later shifted to supporting Theresa May's Brexit deal.
Junior ministerial appointments in full
- Graham Stuart MP as a Minister of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero;
- George Freeman MP as a Minister of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology;
- Nigel Huddleston MP as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade;
- Nusrat Ghani MP as a Minister of State jointly in the Department for Business and Trade and the Cabinet Office
- Andrew Bowie MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero;
- Paul Scully MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology;
- Kevin Hollinrake MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade;
- Stuart Andrew MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Department for Business and Trade;
- Maria Caulfield MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Women) in the Department for Business and Trade, in addition to her current role as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health and Social Care
- Lord Johnson of Lainston as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade;
- Rachel Maclean MP as a Minister of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities;
- Julia Lopez MP as a Minister of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport;
- Lord Callanan as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero;
- Amanda Solloway MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in addition to her current role as a Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury);
- Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport;
- Ruth Edwards MP as a Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury).
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