LONDON – Long-serving business minister Greg Hands was chosen as Rishi Sunak’s chief lieutenant as Britain’s prime minister embarks on a sweeping reform of the government machinery.
Hands, who has served in a number of ministerial roles since becoming a Tory MP in 2010, will serve as chairman of the Conservative Party, stepping into the role vacated after the sacking of Nadim Zahavi amid a dispute over his tax affairs.
The new Tory chairman, who will be expected to shore up the Conservative grassroots and prepare the party for the election, has a formidable task ahead of him. The Conservatives are trailing the opposition Labor Party in the polls and face a tough set of local elections in May. In the last one year only, the party has cycled three leaders.
Sunak reorganized Whitehall to better meet the government’s list of pre-election priorities. Most notably, he has scrapped the standalone Department for International Trade and created a new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology under previous Culture Secretary Michelle Donnellan.
Downing Street said in a statement that the reorganization “will ensure that the whole of government is ready to work for the British people.”
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is being chosen at a time when the UK is devoting less energy to new, post-Brexit trade deals, and focusing more on capitalizing on its existing agreements and promoting a wider trying to get along. business investment strategy Tory rising star Cami Badenoch, previously head of the DIT, will be the new trade and business secretary.
A standalone ministry has also been announced to ensure Britain’s energy security. Grant Shapps, previously business secretary, has been made secretary of state for energy security and net zero, and the change comes as UK consumers grapple with higher energy costs in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sunak, who spent time in Silicon Valley before becoming an MP, is also reforming Britain’s tech policy tools. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport loses the digital details to a new ministry focused on science, innovation and technology. that, the government said, would be “tasked with turning scientific and technological innovations into practical, applicable solutions to the challenges we face.” Lucy Fraser, previously a leveling-up minister, will take over as culture secretary in a scaled-back department.
The tech overhaul comes at a crucial time, with the government’s flagship online security bill making its way through the UK parliament, and amid concerns of delay for its long-awaited semiconductor strategy.
Labor reacted with a laugh to the changes to the civil service. A senior Labor figure told Politico’s London Playbook that “this kind of change to such a huge machinery of government so close to an election is just stupid. It takes a lot of energy to get these things in order in Whitehall and they basically have it before the election”. There won’t be time to do anything real…but if they don’t have the money, the ideas, or enough votes to actually do something – why not.”