“Rishi Sunak Taking Bold Steps to Reinvigorate UK Business and Energy Sector”
LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday shuffled his government, shifting ministers and merging departments in a bid to seize control amid ethics scandals and snipers from Conservative Party colleagues.
Sunak appointed lawmaker Greg Hands as leader of the ruling party, demoralized by dismal opinion polls and a year of turmoil. Sunak is Britain’s third Conservative Prime Minister in less than a year.
Hands, a former trade minister, is replacing Nadhim Zahawi, who was fired by Sunak last month after he failed in a multi-million dollar tax dispute.
Sunak has vowed to uphold the order and integrity of government after three years of instability under predecessors Boris Johnson – who was ousted by ethics scandals in the summer of 2022 – and Liz Truss, who resigned in October after six weeks in office, as their economic plans to cut taxes emerged to restore chaos in the financial markets.
But he faces accusations from the opposition that the government remains mired in scandal and filth. Ethical investigations are also underway into claims Johnson obtained a loan with the help of a Conservative donor who was later appointed chairman of the BBC, and allegations that Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab bullied staff. Raab denies bullying.
Sunak has also reshuffled the departments responsible for business, science and trade to boost the country’s ailing economy and transform the UK into a science and technology superpower.
Kemi Badenoch, previously responsible for international trade, heads a new department for business and trade. Former Business Secretary Grant Shapps becomes Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The government said the new energy department was “task to secure our long-term energy supply, cut bills and halve inflation” after turmoil was unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Environmentalists have expressed skepticism that restoring an energy-only department – which was abolished by a previous Conservative government in 2016 – would help Britain reduce its carbon emissions.
“As climate catastrophes deepen, energy costs skyrocket and the world sinks further beneath rising sea levels, restoring a Department of Energy without further fundamental reforms will be as helpful as rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic,” says Greenpeace’s Doug Parr called UK.
Among other things, Lucy Frazer heads the Culture, Media and Sport department – formerly Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its digital responsibilities will be shifted to the new Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, led by Michelle Donelan. ___
Follow AP’s coverage of UK politics at https://apnews.com/hub/united-kingdom-government
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
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