Michael Gove has been unexpectedly appointed as Defra secretary of state in Theresa May's post-election reshuffle.
Gove, a Brexiteer who himself ran for leader of the Conservative party last summer before failing to amass significant backing following criticism of his treatment of Boris Johnson, replaces Andrea Leadsom. Leadsom had been in the post for less than a year and has been shifted to the post of leader of the House of Commons, having failed to impress many in the food production industry.
Edinburgh-born Gove is currently MP for Surrey Heath and is married to Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine. He had a career as a journalist and has been a regular on TV news shows, and is a former chairman of the Policy Exchange think tank.
First elected as an MP in 2005, he has served as shadow minister for housing and planning and shadow secretary for children, schools and families. He became secretary of state for education in 2010 and chief whip in 2014, before being named justice secretary in May 2015.
He took a prominent role in campaigning to leave the EU and helped run the Vote Leave campaign. Following the referendum he co-founded Change Britain and was vice chair of the select committee on Exiting the European Union.
According to the website Theyworkforyou.com, Gove has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change, and consistently voted for stronger enforcement of immigration rules and a stricter asylum system.
Gove's appointment was welcomed by the Food & Drink Federation, whose director general Ian Wright said: “It is a big boost that the Prime Minister has appointed one of the cabinet's heaviest hitters to a ministry so significantly at the heart of Brexit.
'We very much look forward to working with Mr Gove and his new team. With them and with friends from NFU and across UK food and drink, we will champion the growth of the industry in the exciting months to come.”
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