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Gauke moved out of DWP in government reshuffle
Work and pensions secretary David Gauke has been appointed justice secretary by the prime minister in a further reshuffle announcement.
Mr Gauke, who had only been at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for seven months, will now move to the justice department as lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice.
His successor at the DWP has not been announced yet.
Esther McVey, who was previously a junior DWP minister, was given the secretary of state role after Justine Greening reportedly turned down the job. Ms McVey was in the DWP ministerial team from October 2013 until March 2015, shortly after the bedroom tax was introduced. She was most recently deputy chief whip.
Since 2010 there has been a quick succession of DWP secretaries of state. Mr Gauke’s tenure lasted seven months, Damian Green was in post for just under a year, and Stephen Crabb’s tenure lasted just four months.
In Mr Gauke’s time at the DWP he managed to stave off a full-scale Conservative backbench rebellion over Universal Credit. Some backbenchers had concerns about the growing number of tenants in rent arrears, who were struggling to get by during the six-week wait for their first Universal Credit payment.
Under Mr Gauke’s watch the government made a number of changes to Universal Credit in response to the concerns, including cutting the wait from six to five weeks. Conservative backbenchers were largely appeased by the changes.
Mr Gauke’s replacement has yet to be announced.
Sajid Javid has remained in his position, but with housing added to his job title and the Department for Communities and Local Government renamed as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Update: at 09.35am, 09.01.18
This story was updated to include the announcement of the new secretary of state for work and pensions.
