Andrea Leadsom has been given a role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) as part of Rishi Sunak’s governmental reshuffle.
Leadsom (pictured) is one of the biggest names to be re-entering government under Sunak despite his pledge to bring fresh change to the government with the overhaul.
She is widely known having been leader of the House of Commons from June 2017 to May 2019, and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy secretary between July 2019 and February 2020.
Leadsom also challenged Theresa May to become prime minister but eventually backed-down allowing May a clear route to the leadership.
Andrew Stephenson is taking on a ministerial role in the department as the pair replace Will Quince and Neil O’Brien who both resigned yesterday.
Stevenson was government whip for the last year and has held ministerial positions at the Cabinet Office, Department for Transport (DfT) and in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Their exact responsibilities have not yet been detailed but Quince and O’Brien were responsible for secondary care and primary care respectively.
Victoria Atkins was appointed health and social care secretary as part of the overhaul which saw half the DHSC ministerial team leave, as she replaced Steve Barclay.
Duo added in DWP
Meanwhile a pair of appointments have been made in the Department for Work and Pensions, although Mel Stride has retained his position as secretary of state.
Jo Churchill has been appointed as a minister at DWP while Paul Maynard takes up a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State role.
Churchill has previously held junior positions at the DHSC and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) along with in the whips’ office.
Maynard has held similar junior positions at DfT and Ministry of Justice and has also had roles as a whip.
Neither have had their responsibilities confirmed yet.