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CaSE Briefing: Ministers in the Conservative Government
This briefing provides background and analysis on the new and returning ministers who will be of
key importance for the science and engineering community in the Conservative majority
government.
For each minister we provide our top priorities taken from the three briefings CaSE published ahead
of the election on what we think is required to ensure the UK remains a world-leading powerhouse
of science and engineering.
Contents
Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osborne MP
Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills – Sajid Javid MP
Minister of State for Universities and Science – Jo Johnson MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences – George Freeman MP
Minister of State for Skills and Equalities – Nick Boles MP
Minister of State for Trade and Investment – Francis Maude MP
Secretary of State for Education – Nicky Morgan MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department – Theresa May MP
Minister for Government Efficiency and Civil Service Reform – Matthew Hancock MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (for the Northern Powerhouse) - James Wharton MP
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury – Jim O’Neill
Full list of ministers relevant to science and engineering policy
Minsters of the previous Coalition Government
As a charity, CaSE is independent from all political parties and is funded entirely by our individual
and organisational members. This briefing is not an endorsement of any political party or their
policies and should not be assumed to be fully comprehensive.
For further information please contact the CaSE team.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020 7679 4994
13 May 2015
Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osborne MP
Many agree that George Osborne has strengthened his
position at the top of the Conservative Party following the
election result. He has also been put in charge of negotiations
with the other European Member States in the Government’s
mission to repatriate powers from the EU ahead of the
referendum in 2017.
Mr Osborne has repeatedly stated that science is a “personal
priority”. He had a large part to play in earmarking £1.1 billion for science capital investment each
year up to 2020, and is passionate about building a “Northern Powerhouse”, in which science and
engineering will be centre-stage.
CaSE’s priorities for George Osborne:
1. Set a cross-government framework to increase investment in R&D over 10 years to reach the
level of the USA and Germany
2. Reduce tax on sharing of R&D equipment and facilities to foster innovate collaboration
You can view George Osborne’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills – Sajid Javid MP
Sajid Javid has been moved to BIS from the Department for
Culture Media and Sport, where he was also Secretary of
State. There have been rumours of these two departments
being merged so this could be a sign of things to come,
perhaps after the Comprehensive Spending Review later this
year.
Listing Margaret Thatcher as one of his key inspirations, Mr
Javid said in his maiden speech that, having been an investment banker for 19 years, he wanted to
focus on the importance of reducing the UK’s debt and reinstating British traditions of sound public
finances, low and simple taxation, and light and flexible regulation.
Like almost all departments, BIS is expected to face severe cuts. Mr Javid, like his Science Minister, is
close to the Chancellor. This might place the department in a good position to negotiate with the
Treasury or could mean that Mr Javid will cooperate with his old boss’ plans. It is impossible to know
at this time.
There is little in Mr Javid’s history to hint at what approach he might take with the science and
engineering community. His background in investment banking and ministerial roles in the Treasury
shows he understands economics and so possibly the contribution science and engineering make to
productivity and growth. He is also considered to have a fairly liberal view of immigration and so
could be expected to counter further immigration controls championed by Theresa May, much like
his predecessor, Vince Cable.
13 May 2015
CaSE’s priorities for Sajid Javid:
1. Set a cross-government framework to increase investment in R&D over 10 years to reach the
level of the USA and Germany
2. Provide running costs linked to new facilities to make the most of public capital investment
3. Commit to fully-fund additional costs of science and engineering degrees to retain the
excellence of university teaching
You can view Sajid Javid’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Minister of State for Universities and Science – Jo Johnson MP
Jo Johnson has been appointed Universities and Science
Minister at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
The role no longer includes cities, as it did when Greg Clark
was Minister, and in a further blow to the prominence of
science in the Government, it currently appears that Mr
Johnson will not attend cabinet, unlike his predecessors.
Mr Johnson was elected MP for Orpington in 2010 and has
most recently headed up the Number 10 Policy Unit, with responsibility for developing Conservative
policy in the run-up to the 2015 general election. His ministerial page says that he still holds this role
in Downing Street. He is a long-standing friend of George Osborne and was also Personal Private
Secretary to Mark Prisk when he was Business and Enterprise Minister. Despite such close ties to
central Conservative Party policy making, Mr Johnson will be relatively unknown to the science and
engineering community.
Mr Johnson is considered to be supportive of the European Union and has a keen interest in
relations between Britain and India, including publishing a book in 2011 called “Reconnecting Britain
and India: Ideas for an Enhanced Partnership” (Academic Foundation 2011, with Dr Rajiv Kumar).
Science, engineering, and higher education have all been in focus during recent high-profile trade
delegations to India by the Prime Minister and other government officials. Mr Johnson may see an
opportunity in his new role to strengthen links between the two countries, and probably others,
through these policy areas.
He has also expressed support for students coming to study in the UK in an article for the Financial
Times, saying “Britain’s universities are a globally competitive export sector and well-placed to make
a greater contribution to growth. With economic growth at a premium, the UK should be wary of
artificially hobbling it.”
Before becoming an MP, Mr Johnson was the Financial Times’ South Asia bureau chief, having
worked for the newspaper since 1997. Whilst at the FT, he had postings in India and France. He also
worked as a corporate financier at the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank before
becoming a journalist.
13 May 2015
Commenting on the appointment, CaSE Acting Director, Naomi Weir said:
“There is enormous opportunity for science and engineering to drive economic prosperity and
public wellbeing. In his new role, Jo Johnson is in a strong position to ensure science and
engineering is a central feature of the Government’s long-term economic plan. I look forward
to working with him to ensure the UK has the people, the funding and the policies for science
and engineering to thrive.”
CaSE’s priorities for Jo Johnson:
1. Set a cross-government framework to increase investment in R&D over 10 years to reach the
level of the USA and Germany
2. Provide running costs linked to new facilities to make the most of public capital investment
3. Commit to fully-fund additional costs of science and engineering degrees to retain the
excellence of university teaching
You can view Jo Johnson’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences – George Freeman MP
Considered a strong contender for the Science Minister brief,
George Freeman has been reappointed as Life Sciences
Minister, a role created for him in July 2014. He is responsible
for the Office for Life Sciences, which spans the Department
for Business Innovation and Skills and the Department of
Health.
Mr Freeman is well-known and liked within the life sciences
community, having been very influential in the previous government’s life science policies before
becoming a minister. He was appointed Government Adviser on Life Sciences in July 2011, working
closely with the Department of Health and coordinating the Government’s Life Science and
Innovation, Health and Wealth Strategies (2011), and the Agri-Tech Industrial Strategy (2013). He
has a personal passion for innovation in healthcare and the use of patient data to improve health
outcomes.
Mr Freeman was elected Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk in 2010 and has served as Parliamentary
Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Climate Change. He was appointed to the post of Prime
Minister’s UK Trade Envoy before taking up a ministerial position.
You can view George Freeman’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
13 May 2015
Minister of State for Skills and Equalities – Nick Boles MP
Nick Boles has been reappointed as Skill and Equalities
minister, a role he has held since July 2014. His responsibilities
include further education and vocational training. The
Conservatives pledged to create three million new
apprenticeships in their manifesto and ensure all cities have a
University Technical College.
Mr Boles was elected as MP for Grantham and Stamford in
May 2010 but was appointed as Head of David Cameron’s Implementation Team in 2007,
responsible for drawing up the Conservative Party’s detailed plans for government.
He has been Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Gibb MP, the Minister of State for Schools and
was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Planning in September 2012.He founded, and is a
former director of, Policy Exchange, a centre right policy research institute.
CaSE priorities for Nick Boles:


Commit to closing the STEM Further Education funding gap to ensure courses are high
quality and feasible to deliver
Link STEM apprenticeships to professional registration standards to provide quality
pathways into skilled careers
You can view Nick Bole’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Minister of State for Trade and Investment – Francis Maude MP
Francis Maude has been appointed Minister of State for Trade
and Investment on 11 May 2015, having previously been
Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from
May 2010 to May 2015. He was elected the Conservative MP
for Horsham, West Sussex in 1997.
Mr Maude’s role is split between the Department for Business
Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office. Foreign investment is hugely important for science and engineering: in 2011 around half of
the UK’s annual business expenditure on R&D was from foreign-owned companies. Mr Maude will
have an important role selling the UK as a world-leading place to invest in R&D and will need to work
closely with his BIS colleagues to ensure government policies maintain the UK’s strong science base,
which is a major attraction for global investors.
13 May 2015
CaSE’s priorities for Francis Maude:
1. Set a cross-government framework to increase investment in R&D over 10 years to reach the
level of the USA and Germany
2. Reduce tax on sharing of R&D equipment and facilities to foster innovate collaboration
You can view Francis Maude’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Secretary of State for Education – Nicky Morgan MP
Nicky Morgan has been re-appointed by the Prime Minister as
Secretary of State for Education, a role she took over from
Michael Gove in July 2014. She is also Minister for Women
and Equalities.
Her department will be responsible for taking forward the
Conservative’s manifesto commitments to train 17,500 more
maths and physics teachers and promoting science as a core
subject in schools (the manifesto proposes preventing Ofsted awarding top marks to schools that do
not provide GCSE science).
Ms Morgan spoke out against plans by Ofsted to remove the practical element from GCSE science
exams, replacing it with written questions. Ofsted’s proposals were widely criticised by the science
and engineering community, and Ms Morgan’s intervention was rumoured to have followed a
discussion with the former Science Minister, David Willetts. Despite this, Ofsted have now removed
the practical assessment.
She was elected for the Loughborough seat for the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election and
served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Willetts whilst he was Science and Universities
Minister.
CaSE priorities for Nicky Morgan:
1. Require every primary school to nominate and train a science leader to inspire the next
generation
2. Link STEM apprenticeships to professional registration standards to provide quality
pathways into skilled careers
You can view Nicky Morgan’s ministerial page, including her full responsibilities, here.
13 May 2015
Secretary of State for the Home Department – Theresa May MP
Theresa May has been reappointed as the Home Secretary, a
role she has held since 2010. Ms May is a strong campaigner
for the need to reduce immigration and is behind the
Conservative’s election promise to bring net migration down
to 100,000 per year. In the previous Parliament the Home
Office brought in strict new limits on student and highlyskilled worker visas.
CaSE’s priority for Theresa May:
1. Remove the immigration limit on skilled workers so Britain can benefit from top science and
engineering talent
2. Reverse the Government’s policy on Post-Study Work visas to give students more flexibility
to contribute to the UK’s economy
You can view Theresa May’s ministerial page, including her full responsibilities, here.
Minister for Government Efficiency and Civil Service Reform – Matthew Hancock MP
Matthew Hancock has been given a newly-created role
responsible for Government efficiency and reforming the civil
service. He will attend Cabinet. In this role he will have the
opportunity to ensure the Government benefits from the best
independent scientific advice possible and that policy making
is transparent and evidence-based.
Mr Hancock was previously Minister for Business and Enterprise and was elected Conservative MP
for West Suffolk on 6 May 2010.
CaSE’s priorities for Matthew Hancock:
1. Create a searchable online archive of government research to increase transparency and
efficiency
2. Appoint a Chief Scientific Adviser in each department to ensure evidence informs policy
making
3. Provide Select Committees with any evidence received during a policies formation to inform
and improve scrutiny
You can view Matthew Hancock’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
13 May 2015
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (for the Northern Powerhouse) - James Wharton MP
James Wharton has been appointed as the Minister
responsible for the Northern Powerhouse. He is based in the
Department for Communities and Local Government headed
by former Science, Universities, and Cities Minister, Greg Clark
MP.
Science is at the centre of the Northern Powerhouse strategy,
devised by George Osborne and much touted ahead of the
General Election. It is therefore surprising to see the initiative sited solely in Dr Clark’s department,
despite considerable policy overlap with BIS responsibilities. However, regional development is a
strong policy interest for Dr Clark and he will be familiar with the important role science and
universities play in local and regional economies from his time as Science Minister.
This is the first ministerial role for Mr Wharton but one that suits his strong interest in regional
development around his North East constituency. Following his election as MP for Stockton South in
2010, he gave his maiden speech during a debate on the higher skilled economy. Mr Wharton called
for the existing north-east region skills base to be built upon in order to achieve a stronger economy.
However, he has not remarked specifically on the role of science in the economy when speaking in
House of Commons debates.
You can view James Wharton’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury – Jim O’Neill
Jim O'Neill has been appointed as Commercial Secretary to
the Treasury, responsible for driving forward city devolution
and the Northern Powerhouse. He has long been an advocate
for the concept of combining the strengths of the major
Northern cities but might be best known to the science
community for his recent Chairmanship of the Antimicrobial
Resistance Review.
Dr O’Neill worked for Goldman Sachs from 1995 until April 2013, spending most of his time there as
Chief Economist. He chaired the Cities Growth Commission in the UK until October 2014 when it
provided its final recommendations. George Osborne has also announced that Dr O’Neill is to be
made a Conservative peer.
You can view Jim O’Neill’s ministerial page, including his full responsibilities, here.
13 May 2015
Full list of ministers relevant to science and engineering policy
HM Treasury
Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osborne MP
Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Greg Hands MP
Financial Secretary to the Treasury – David Gauke MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (for the Northern Powerhouse) - James Wharton MP
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury – Jim O’Neill
Cabinet
Minister for Government Efficiency and Civil Service Reform – Matthew Hancock MP
Department for Business Innovation and Skills
Secretary of State – Sajid Javid MP
Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities – Jo Johnson MP
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise – Anna Soubry MP
Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy – Ed Vaizey MP
Minister of State for Skills and Equalities (split with DfE) – Nick Boles MP
Minister of State for Trade and Investment (split with FCO) – Francis Maude MP
Department for Education
Secretary of State for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities – Nicky Morgan MP
Minister of State for Schools Reform – Nick Gibb MP
Minister of State for Equalities – Caroline Dinenage MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools – Lord Nash
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Childcare and Education – Sam Gyimah MP
Home Office
Secretary of State - Theresa May MP
Minister for Security and Immigration – James Brokenshire MP
Department of Health
Secretary of State – Jeremy Hunt MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences (Shared with BIS) – George Freeman MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health – Ben Gummer MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health – Jane Ellison
Department for Communities and Local Government
Secretary of State – Dr Greg Clark MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - James Wharton MP
13 May 2015
Minsters of the previous Coalition Government
HM Treasury
Chancellor of the Exchequer – George Osborne (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Danny Alexander (Lib Dem, lost seat in 2015)
Financial Secretary to the Treasury – David Gauke (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Department for Business Innovation and Skills
Secretary of State – Vince Cable (Lib Dem, lost seat in 2015)
Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities – Greg Clark (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Minister for Portsmouth – Matthew Hancock (Con, reelected in 2015)
Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy – Ed Vaizey (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Minister of State for Skills and Equalities – Nick Boles (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Department for Education
Secretary of State for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities – Nicky Morgan (Con, reelected in 2015)
Minister of State for Schools – David Laws (Lib Dem, lost seat in 2015)
Minister of State for School Reform – Nick Gibb (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools – Lord Nash
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women and Equalities – Jo Swinson (Lib Dem, lost seat in
2015)
Home Office
Secretary of State - Theresa May (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Minister of State for Crime Prevention - Lynne Featherstone (Lib Dem, lost seat in 2015)
Minister for Security and Immigration - James Brokenshire (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Department of Health
Secretary of State – Jeremy Hunt (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Minister of State for Care and Support – Norman Lamb (Lib Dem, re-elected in 2015)
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences - George Freeman (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health – Dr Daniel Poulter (Con, re-elected in 2015)
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health – Jane Ellison (Con, re-elected in 2015)
13 May 2015