Steve Barclay made new Environment Secretary in cabinet reshuffle
The North East Cambridgeshire MP has been moved from Health Secretary
MP for North East Cambridgeshire Steve Barclay has been appointed the new Environment Secretary after a dramatic reshuffle in Rishi Sunak's cabinet.
Mr Barclay's became the 10th Environment Secretary since 2010, leaving his role from Health Secretary.
He replaces Therese Coffey, who resigned from Government during the reshuffle after holding several ministerial jobs including health minister and work and pensions minister, and also served as deputy prime minister under Liz Truss.
The Cabinet exit of Ms Coffey, who is a close friend Liz Truss, could cause anger among allies of the former prime minister.
Environmental campaigners are now calling on Mr Barclay to act quickly as they criticised the Government and Ms Coffey over the recent response to environmental challenges facing the UK.
Several have called on Mr Barclay to tackle the poor performances of water companies and sewage pollution and give more support for regenerative farming and nature restoration, and deliver on long-promised waste-reduction schemes.
Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "Therese Coffey's time as environment secretary was mired in controversy.
"Her lasting legacy will be the complacency she showed in dealing with the ongoing sewage scandal, which has seen the near-complete deterioration of our precious rivers and seas.
"While she did ensure the UK played a positive role in last year's UN biodiversity talks, she will also be remembered for unhelpful speeches that pitted the interests of farmers, business leaders and environmental groups against each other instead of working to unite them."
Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: "This Government was elected on a manifesto promising 'the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth'.
"Instead, we've had a programme of broken promises, from farming reform to waste reduction and pollution prevention.
"The new Secretary of State for the Environment still has time to respond to the huge public demand for environmental improvement and rekindle a green light in government.
"In his first days in office, Mr Barclay should speed ahead with quick wins: a horticultural peat ban, ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty, a 30x30 delivery plan, a phase-out of lead ammunition and a chemical reduction strategy. These would really show he means business for nature."
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said: "We congratulate Steve Barclay on his appointment as Environment Secretary.
"Last week marked two years since the Environment Act became law but the Government has yet to implement measures in it to cut deforestation out of supply chains and tackle the UK's role in the destruction of precious places like the Amazon.
"This should be a day one priority for Mr Barclay."