Thérèse Coffey and Michael Gove Appointed as Environment and Levelling Up Secretaries

New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has begun forming his cabinet, appointing Thérèse Coffey MP as Secretary of State for the Environment, and Michael Gove MP as the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Thérèse Coffey was Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and Deputy Prime Minister under Liz Truss and held a ministerial post at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for three years. During her time at Defra, Minister Coffey focused on recycling and waste leading the development of the Resources and Waste Strategy.

Michael Gove has returned to the Levelling Up Secretary post after being dismissed by Boris Johnson towards the end of his time as Prime Minister. The role involves overseeing local government, planning and building safety across the UK. In his previous term in the post, Gove introduced the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that is currently on its journey through parliament. We published a run down of what the Bill proposes here.

Former Home Secretary and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP has been appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who has responsibility for the countries energy supplies.

We look forward to working with the new Secretaries of State constructively to recognise the vital importance of our natural capital for the economy and growth, and on specific issues such as nature protection, agricultural payment schemes and planning reforms.