Prime minister Rishi Sunak has appointed Chelsea and Fulham MP Greg Hands as the new chairman of the Tory party, after a reshuffle of his top team.
Mr Hands, who has been serving Sunak’s government as an international trade minister, will now replace Nadhim Zahawi after he was dismissed from the role last week over tax affairs.
Greg Hands said: “I am excited to be asked by Rishi Sunak to be Chairman of the Conservatives. The work starts right away.”
Zahawi, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, was sacked from the role last week, after an inquiry found that he had committed a serious breach of the Ministerial Code concerning tax affairs.
Sir Laurie, who conducted the inquiry, said: “Mr Zahawi’s conduct as a minister has fallen below the high standards that, as prime minister, you rightly expect from those who serve in your government.”
Part of the reshuffle was forced due to Zahawi’s departure from Cabinet, and Hands, who has served in parliament for over a decade, is seen to be a safe choice for the government.
The PM’s mini-reshuffle has also seen the appointment of ministers to four brand-new departments which, by the approval of The King, are as follows:
-Grant Shapps as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
-Kemi Badenoch as Secretary of State for Business and Trade
-Lucy Frazer as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
-Michelle Donelan as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology
Hands’ new role will involve leading the Tories through to the next General Election, with current polling putting them well behind the Labour Party.
Featured image credit: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
