Brown Government Cabinet Changes

Jack Straw has been appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in the new Brown Government, the first Lord Chancellor to sit in the House of Commons. The Attorney General is now Baroness Scotland. The Department for Education and Skills has been divided into the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Ed Balls has been appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and Beverley Hughes is Minister for Children and Youth Justice. Harriet Harman becomes Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Women and Baroness Ashton Leader of the House of Lords. Peter Hain takes over at the Department for Work and Pensions from John Hutton who goes to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department for Trade and Industry).