Changes at HM Treasury
Last week saw the resignation of the previous Chancellor Rishi Sunak from the Government. The previous Chancellor said he could no longer continue in his role in good conscience.
The Prime Minister almost immediately sought to fill this role and appointed Nadhim Zahawi as Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, the Prime Ministers move to shore up his support, in the face of mass resignations, was short lived and within 2 days Boris Johnson had announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister.
As things stand, it seems likely that a new Prime Minister will be appointed by September with Boris Johnson remaining in his role until then. The new Chancellor also appears to be remaining in his role, but it is unlikely there will be any far-reaching changes to UK taxes until a new Prime Minister is in place.
There was also another new appointment to the ministerial team at the Treasury with Alan Mak appointed Exchequer Secretary on 7 July 2022.
The new Prime Minister and his or her Chancellor will want to stamp their authority on legislation when in post in which case it is possible that we will have an early Autumn Budget that may see major fiscal changes.
Changes at HM Treasury
Within hours of entering 10 Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson had filled most of the senior cabinet roles by undertaking a major overhaul of cabinet members.
After three years in the job, the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond resigned his position to the outgoing Prime Minister, Theresa May rather than face the sack. He has been replaced in the job of Chancellor by Sajid Javid who was already in the cabinet as Britain’s foreign secretary. The new Chancellor is a leading Brexiteer and has already vowed to release significant extra funding to ensure Britain leaves the EU on 31 October 2019 with or without a deal.
The holder of the role of Chief Secretary at the Treasury has also changed with Rishi Sunak replacing Liz Truss who has been appointed the new Secretary of State for International Trade. There was also one further new appointment to the ministerial team at the Treasury with Simon Clarke appointed Exchequer Secretary. Jesse Norman, Financial Secretary and John Glen, Economic Secretary have been reappointed to their previous roles by the new Prime Minister.