New jobs for former GDS minister Caroline Nokes and digital minister Matt Hancock, with no word yet on if they will be directly replaced and by whom
Whitehall’s two most digitally focused ministerial roles are both seemingly up for grabs, as Caroline Nokes and Matt Hancock have been given new jobs in prime minister Theresa May’s reshuffle.
Nokes was last year appointed as the minister for government resilience and efficiency. The newly created Cabinet Office-based post came with the remit of overseeing the Government Digital Service. The Romsey and Southampton MP was yesterday moved to a role as immigration minister.
Following Damian Green’s departure last month, David Lidington has been appointed as minister for the Cabinet Office.
Meanwhile Hancock, formerly minister of state for digital, is remaining at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, but has been promoted to the top job of culture secretary.
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Like the government resilience brief, the digital minister post Hancock previously occupied is a fairly new one, having been effectively created in 2014, when Ed Vaizey was appointed to a role that came with the title minister of state for culture and the digital economy.
PublicTechnology contacted the Cabinet Office, DCMS, and the Prime Minister’s Office to ask whether direct replacements for Nokes and Hancock would be appointed in due course, or if their previous duties might form part of another role’s remit. All three instructed us to follow announcements from No 10 that will be made over the course of today.
