Claire Coutinho has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, following Grant Shapps’ move to the Ministry of Defence.
Shapps took over as Secretary of State for what was still the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy at the time in October 2022, when Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss as Prime Minister. Sunak then moved to split the department into three new ones in February 2023 – a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, a Department for Business and Trade, and a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which Shapps was tasked with heading up.
Ben Wallace, having served as Secretary of State for Defence for four years, announced in July that he would be resigning at the next Cabinet reshuffle and would not look to seek re-election as an MP in the next election. Formally resigning on 31 August, Sunak appointed Shapps as his successor.
The news was promptly followed by the appointment of Claire Coutinho as his replacement, stepping up from the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing in the Department for Education.
