Conservative MPs Alex Burghart and Will Quince have been appointed education ministers in Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.
Burghart, the MP for Brentwood and Ongar, was previously a parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister. Quince, the MP for Colchester, was a work and pensions minister.
The Department for Education’s website states Quince is the new children’s minister, replacing Vicky Ford, who has joined the Foreign Office. Burghart has been named as minister for apprenticeships and skills
Schools Week’s sister paper FE Week covered reports that Michelle Donelan, previously the universities minister, may also take on the further education and skills brief previously held by Gillian Keegan, who is now a health minister.
But shortly after the announcement that he’d been appointed to the government, Burghart published a cryptic tweet saying “@educationgovuk here we go” with pictures of the Skills White Paper.
It is not known whether Baroness Berridge, currently academies minister, will stay on in her role. Her bio still appears on the DfE website, but neither Downing Street not the department has confirmed she is staying.
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