The new leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has appointed her shadow cabinet. Alex Burghart keeps his role as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, but is also made Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – essentially becoming her deputy.
Alex Burghart has said that “it’s been very annoying” that he has not yet made a visit to Northern Ireland as Shadow Secretary of State, which he states is due to difficulties in getting funding from Conservative Party Headquarters.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that the next general election will be held on Thursday 4 July. He made the announcement outside a rainy 10 Downing Street after months of speculation.
Chris Heaton-Harris has announced that he will not be standing at the next general election; Elected to Parliament in 2010 he has served in a number of ministerial jobs, most recently as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was dismissed in 2019 by Boris Johnson when he was elected Prime Minister.
The motion for a ceasefire in Gaza has been rejected by a majority of MPs, whilst Labour sees a wave of frontbenchers resign after defying the Labour leader.
Simon Hoare has been the Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee since 2019, but has now been given a ministerial role as part of the Prime Minister’s reshuffle.
The Prime Minister is making changes to his cabinet, with former Prime Minister David Cameron being appointed as Foreign Secretary, whilst James Cleverly moves to the Home Office.
Ben Wallace will leave the cabinet at the next reshuffle, and stand down as an MP at the next general election.
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