Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has carried out a mini reshuffle of his junior cabinet, following the resignation of two ministers, bringing in new trade ministers.
Robert Halfon resigned as skills minister, at the same time as announcing he would not be standing for re-election, while James Heappey announced he was returning to the backbenches and stepping down as armed forces minister.
Heappey had previously announced he wouldn’t defend his seat at the next election, widely expected in the autumn this year.
While there is no requirement for MPs stepping down to resign from government, traditionally prime ministers prefer to go into an election with a team of ministers who are all looking to fight the election and not quit parliament.
Rearranging the lower ranks
The resignations caused Sunak to have to rearrange the lower ranks of his cabinet, including a reshuffle within the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Europe minister, Leo Docherty, replaced Heappey at the Ministry of Defence and former Conservative deputy chairman, Luke Hall, replaced Halfon.
Nusrat Ghani, formerly a minister at DBT dealing with critical minerals, was moved into Doherty’s old job as Europe minister in the Foreign Office. Alan Mak has taken on some of her former brief but in a more junior role, working between DBT and the Cabinet Office.
Ghani had worked as minister for industry and economic security and led the government’s recent launch of its critical minerals strategy, as well as a plan for advanced manufacturing.
Kevin Hollinrake, formerly in a more junior ministerial role at DBT, and a speaker at the Institute of Export & International Trade’s (IOE&IT) Import Export Show last year, has been promoted to minister of state at the department, although Politico reports his portfolio stays the same.
The same Politico article reports a DBT spokesperson as saying the secretary of state, Kemi Badenoch, hasn’t confirmed or agreed exact portfolios across her new ministerial team.
Bored of the rings
Halfon’s resignation letter to his constituency caused something of a stir, as he quoted Gandalf’s words to the hobbit Frodo from the Lord of the Rings, writing:
“I am with you at present…but soon I shall not be. I am not coming to the Shire…My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights, nor to help folk to do so.
“And as for you, my dear friends, you will need no help…among the great you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you.”
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