Rishi Sunak has appointed Chelsea and Fulham MP Greg Hands as the new Tory Party chairman and Grant Shapps as a new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, during a mini-reshuffle of his Cabinet on Tuesday.
The appoinment of Mr Hands, which was initially confirmed on social media by Tory Mp Michael Fabricant, comes after Nadhim Zahawi was sacked as chairman, over his tax affairs, more than a week ago.
Lee Anderson, who has been a staunch government ally from the backbenches, has been appointed deputy chairman.
Mr Shapps’ appointment as energy security secretary comes as Mr Sunak breaks up the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) into three ministries. In doing so, Mr Sunak also appointed Michelle Donelan as the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Kemi Badenoch as Business Secretary and Lucy Frazer as Culture Secretary.
The Prime Minister said the shake-up will “focus teams on the issues that will build a better future for our children and grandchildren”.
Dominic Raab, who is facing an investigation into claims of bullying, has survived the reshuffle.