Rishi Sunak has appointed Greg Hands as the new chairman of the Conservative party as the prime minister conducted a reshuffle of his top team.
Mr Hands, who had been serving in the Government as an international trade minister, will replace Nadhim Zahawi who was sacked as party chair over a scandal relating to his tax affairs.
Other movers include Grant Shapps who becomes the new energy security and net zero secretary, Michelle Donelan who is the new science, innovation and technology secretary and Kemi Badenoch who takes on a bolstered role as business and trade secretary.
The reshuffle comes after the prime minister decided to break up the department for business, energy and industrial strategy, creating the trio of new roles listed above in the process.
Meanwhile, former levelling up minister Lucy Frazer is replacing Ms Donelan as the new secretary of state for culture, media, and sport
In a tweet at 11.24 am, Greg Hands said he was “excited” to be asked by the prime minister to be chairman of the party.
He added: “I joined the Party in 1986 – a ward chairman in 1992, a councillor in 1998, a Group Leader in 1999, an MP in 2005, a Minister in 2011 – an honour to chair it in 2023! The work starts right away”.
Meanwhile, environmental group Greenpeace has criticised the idea of a new department dedicated to energy, arguing that it is “government policy and underinvestment that is holding back real action on the climate and energy crises”.
Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s director of policy, said: “Unless the new-look Department for Energy is given the freedom and funding to rapidly scale up renewable energy production – both offshore and on – to sure up domestic supply, as well as roll out a nationwide scheme to insulate the tens of millions of energy-wasting homes across the country, what’s the point?”.
Rishi Sunak had committed to a new energy department during his unsuccessful campaign to replace Boris Johnson last summer. There was a separate energy department before it was merged with the business department by Theresa May in 2016.
Labour’s Ed Miliband, who ran the former Department of Energy and Climate Change under Gordon Brown, is among those who have been arguing for its return.
Commenting on reports prior to the announcement of the new department, Mr Miliband said the Conservatives now “admit they got it wrong” when they disbanded the Department of Energy and Climate Change in 2016.
Labour’s shadow climate change secretary tweeted: “So seven years after the disastrous decision to abolish the Department of Energy, the Conservatives now admit they got it wrong, but a rearranging of deckchairs on the sinking Titanic of failed Conservative energy policy will not rescue the country”.
One notable cabinet member to keep their post is Dominic Raab, who is under fire over a series of bullying allegations.
Asked whether the prime minister should use today’s reshuffle to remove Dominic Raab from the Cabinet, international development minister Andrew Mitchell responded: “No. There is a process around these allegations that have been made about Dominic and that process should be followed. We live in a country which believes in a system of fairness and justice and that’s what has been set up and I don’t think it should be preempted in any way”.
Also touring the media studios this morning, was economic secretary to the treasury Andrew Griffiths. Asked if it was a mistake to disband the department of energy and climate change in 2016, he said: “To me, it is all about outcomes, it is not about process. Obviously if there are ways of streamlining the way this Government can deliver on the people’s priorities, then that’s important”.
