The Cabinet Office is a department of the UK Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objectives via other departments. As of December 2021, it had over 10,200 staff, mostly civil servants, some of whom work in Whitehall. Staff working in the Prime Minister's Office are part of the Cabinet Office.
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, also referred to as the Levelling Up secretary, is a Secretary of State in the Government of the United Kingdom, and Cabinet minister, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Open Europe was a British centre-right eurosceptic policy think tank with offices in London and Brussels, merging with the Policy Exchange think tank in 2020.
Jacob William Rees-Mogg is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Somerset since 2010. Now a backbencher, he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from 2019 to 2022, Minister of State for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency from February to September 2022 and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, Rees-Mogg previously chaired the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) from 2018 to 2019 and has been associated with socially conservative views.
Stuart James Andrew is a Welsh politician serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society since September 2022 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities since October 2022. Andrew previously served as Government Deputy Chief Whip from 2020 to 2022, Minister of State for Housing from February to July 2022, and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Pudsey since 2010.
Melvyn John Stride is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since October 2022. He previously served in the May Government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General from 2017 to 2019 and as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from May to July 2019. He also served as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010.
Sir James Jacob Gilchrist Berry is a British Conservative Party politician and former solicitor who served as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio from 6 September to 25 October 2022. He previously served as Minister of State for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth from 2017 to 2020 in the governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
The Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG), established in 2010, was part of the Cabinet Office which worked in partnership with HM Treasury to form the corporate centre for UK Government. Its objectives were to reform the way government works and to support the transformation of government services by driving cost savings and focusing on growth.
Theodore Thomas More Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton, is a British businessman, Conservative life peer and former Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. He also founded the Inspiration Trust, and is the Trust's former chairman.
Gregory David Clark is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from 7 July 2022 to 6 September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tunbridge Wells since 2005. He is currently the Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee.
Wendy Morton is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills in the West Midlands since 2015.
Luke Anthony Hall is a British politician and former retail manager who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thornbury and Yate since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government from 2020 to 2021.
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the business of the Department for Exiting the European Union, as well as for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU), informally referred to as "Brexit". The secretary of state oversaw Brexit negotiations following a 2016 referendum, in which a majority voted in favour of exiting the EU. The officeholder was a member of the Cabinet.
Simon Richard Clarke is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from September to October 2022 and Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland since 2017.
The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The journalist Sebastian Payne described it in the Financial Times as "the most influential [research group] in recent political history".
The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited Boris Johnson to form a new administration, following the resignation of the predecessor Prime Minister Theresa May. May had resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June 2019; Johnson was elected as her successor on 23 July 2019. The Johnson ministry was formed from the 57th Parliament of the United Kingdom, as a Conservative minority government. It lost its working majority on 3 September 2019 when Tory MP Dr Phillip Lee crossed the floor to the Liberal Democrats. An election was called for 12 December 2019, which led to the formation of a Conservative majority government, the second Johnson ministry.
The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election. The Conservative Party was returned to power with a majority of 80 seats in the House of Commons. Initially the ministers were largely identical to those at the end of the first Johnson ministry, but changed significantly in cabinet reshuffles in February 2020 and September 2021.
The Minister of State for the Treasury was a junior position in the HM Treasury, occasionally used in the British government. The title has not been used since May 2010, with some responsibilities passed to the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and later the Minister of State for Efficiency and Transformation, a joint office with HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office.
The Elections Act 2022 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced to the House of Commons in July 2021, and receiving Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. The Act makes photo identification compulsory for in-person voting in Great Britain for the first time. Until then, Northern Ireland had been the only part of the UK to require voter identification. The Act will also give government new powers over the independent elections regulator; the Electoral Commission has said it is "concerned" about its independence from political influence in the future.
