Reynolds will lead Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade after Burnham shakeup
Andy Burnham has appointed Jonathan Reynolds to the brand new publish of secretary of state for enterprise, innovation, science and commerce, after the prime minister abolished the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The science secretary place had been within the separate science division, created in 2023.
But the publish, together with duty for analysis coverage and the analysis price range, has now been merged into the enterprise division—to be recognized as the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade—in a direct shakeup underneath the Burnham authorities.
Reynolds (pictured), MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, and a graduate of the University of Manchester, returns to the enterprise division he led till September 2025, however now with an expanded portfolio that features science and innovation.
The two ministers who had beforehand taken duty for science in Dsit—Patrick Vallance as science minister and Liz Kendall as secretary of state—resigned earlier than Burnham introduced his new workforce.
Elsewhere in new authorities appointments, Lucy Powell turns into schooling secretary, with duty for universities, changing Bridget Phillipson, who turns into equalities minister.
Libby Hackett, the Russell Group chief govt, welcomed Burnham’s “bold vision for optimism and economic growth”, saying his plans “put regional innovation at the heart of economic success for the UK—including a new home for science and research in a strengthened portfolio of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade”.
The Russell Group “warmly welcomes this approach that puts our world-leading research and innovation capabilities at the centre of national ambitions”, she added.
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