FURTHER UK Government posts have been filled after dozens of ministers threw in the towel in protest against Boris Johnson's leadership.
Almost 60 members of the Government resigned this week before Johnson decided the game was up and quit as leader of the Tory party.
A leadership contest has now officially begun, and Johnson intends to remain as Prime Minister until a new chief is in place.
It was widely thought Johnson would seriously struggle to fill the black hole of vacancies but appointments have gradually been made over the past couple of days.
On Friday afternoon, right-wing Brexiteer Peter Bone - who has described Ukip as a “good thing for British politics” and called the idea of introducing same-sex marriage “completely nuts” in 2013 - was made deputy leader of the House of Commons.
Earlier this week as Johnson’s Cabinet fell apart around him, Bone went onto BBC News to brand it the “bash Boris corporation”.
He was one of the only people arguing in support of the Government's handling of the Pincher scandal in the Commons this week.
Bone’s supportive intervention stood out so much that even Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle remarked that he was a “lone batter” for the Government.
Pete Wishart (below), the SNP's shadow leader of the House who'll be going up against Bone if Mark Spencer is away, called the appointment Johnson's "desperate last-gasp effort to keep the show on the road".
"I knew he was going to fill his cabinet with weirdos and oddballs, but it's quite extraordinary," he told The National.
"He’s the only one still there that feels in any way indebted to Boris and thinks he’s doing a good job," he added. "It’s an unusual development but I’m looking forward to seeing him across the dispatch box."
Meanwhile Richard Fuller was named as Economic Secretary to the Treasury in place of John Glen while former housing minister Stuart Andrew will be the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice.
Havant MP Alan Mak has been made Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Sarah Dines is to be the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State jointly at the Ministry of Justice and Home Office, and Rehman Chishti will be Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Lia Nici, Johnson's private secretary, will be Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, while Brendan Clarke-Smith is to be Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education.
Further appointments include:
- Andrew Griffith: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for International Trade
- Jane Hunt: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Karl McCartney: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Transport
- James Morris: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care
- Andrea Jenkyns: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Education
- Simon Baynes: parliamentary under-secretary of state jointly at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office
- Steve Double: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Amanda Solloway: parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Home Office, and parliamentary under-secretary of state (minister for equalities) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
It comes after Steve Barclay became the new Health Secretary in place of Sajid Javid, while Nadim Zahawi was named the new Chancellor following the resignation of Rishi Sunak.
Greg Clark has been named as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, while James Cleverly is now in charge of education.
Robert Buckland is the new Welsh Secretary and Shailesh Vara is Northern Ireland Secretary.
