Kit Malthouse has been appointed education secretary by new prime minister Liz Truss, becoming the fourth person to hold the role in just over two months.
The North West Hampshire MP has been serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the cabinet since July 7 following prime minister Boris Johnson’s reshuffle.
Malthouse had previously served as a housing minister for a year from July 2018 to July 2019 under Theresa May’s leadership, before being appointed as minister for crime and policing thereafter when Johnson became PM until July this year.
The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP @KitMalthouse as Secretary of State for Education @EducationGovUK #Reshuffle pic.twitter.com/HOUvzKCkm7
The 55-year-old had also worked with Johnson during the latter’s time as Mayor of London, Malthouse being deputy mayor for policing for four years and a member of the London Assembly.
Prior to his senior political career, Malthouse had qualified as a chartered accountant in the mid-1990s, before holding a finance director role at Cannock Investments Group. He became chief executive of Alpha Strategic and chair of County Holdings during the 2000s.
He was educated at Sudley County Primary School and Liverpool College, which was at the time a private school but has since become an academy, before studying politics and economics at Newcastle University.
Malthouse in ninth education secretary since 2010
The appointment marks the fourth education secretary since July, the fifth in a year and the ninth since the Conservatives took office in 2010.
The resignation of two cabinet members and an exodus of junior ministers forced Boris Johnson in July to announce he was standing down, prompting a leadership race through the summer while Johnson stayed on as caretaker PM.
During that time, then-education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer, with further and higher education minister Michelle Donelan succeeding Zahawi.
But Donelan resigned less than two days into the job, with Johnson appointing Braintree MP James Cleverly to the role in his reshuffle.
Cleverly was promoted by Truss to the foreign secretary role.
With the leadership contest having concluded on Monday, Johnson visited the Queen at Balmoral to formally resign earlier today, with Truss invited to form a government this afternoon.
Truss defeated fellow leadership contender Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399 among Conservative party members to secure the top job.
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