The reshuffle, which took place on Wednesday 15 September, saw the return of ICAEW member Anne-Marie Trevelyan to Cabinet, appointed as Secretary of State for International Trade. She is joined in the Cabinet by two other ICAEW members – Alok Sharma retained his position as COP26 President, and Kit Malthouse, Minister of State in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, will now attend Cabinet meetings.

However, among the departures from government was ICAEW member Nick Gibb, who lost his position of Minister of State for Schools.

Who made the top spots?

Many of the major economic positions remained unchanged, with Rishi Sunak continuing as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Kwasi Kwarteng retaining his role as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Instead, the primary moves focused on delivering the Prime Minister’s levelling-up agenda and the post-Brexit Global Britain ambitions: Liz Truss was appointed as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Michael Gove moved to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Simon Clarke returned to government as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The key financial players

Other financial positions are filled by Lucy Frazer, who replaces Jesse Norman as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Helen Whately as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Under the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will be Thérèse Coffey; Chloe Smith is the Minister of State and David Rutley is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

For the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Hands is Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Lee Rowley is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury). Rowley is also one of the Junior Lords of the Treasury alongside Amanda Solloway.

ICAEW will be writing to recently appointed ministers in the coming weeks as part of our engagement with the government.

Click here for the full list of ministerial appointments in September 2021.