NADHIM Zahawi has been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in new prime minister Liz Truss’ first cabinet.
The Stratford MP had been Chancellor for the past two months – one of the final cabinet appointments made by outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson – following the resignation of Rushi Sunak.
Mr Zahawi has been busy during his time as Chancellor drawing up proposals to help ease the pressure on households and business in the face of rocketing energy bills. Details of the proposals have not been made public, but Mrs Truss is expected to make an announcement in the coming days – with political commentators suggesting household dual fuel energy bills could be capped at £2,500.
Mr Zahawi is replaced in the role of Chancellor by Mrs Truss’ close friend and political ally Kwasi Kwarteng.
In his new role, Mr Zahawi will be responsible running the Cabinet Office, the department that supports the prime minister.
The father-of-three, who will also be equalities minister, was previously education secretary.
Before that, as the so-called vaccines minister, he spearheaded Britain’s widely-acclaimed roll-out of the coronavirus vaccination programme.
The 55 year-old had put himself forward as a candidate to succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister but failed to gather enough votes from Conservative Party members.
Mr Zahawi has yet to publically comment on his new role, but his close friend at Westminster, MP Simon Clarke, tweeted: “He will be a brilliant, galvanising CDL and a huge driving force at the heart of the Government.”
