A key backer of Brexit, Michael Gove MP, has been appointed to the post of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Other Defra ministers are expected to be appointed by the end of the week and the UK faces having another recycling minister less than 12 months after Therese Coffey was appointed to the position – although there is a small possibility she could return to the same job. Mr Gove’s predecessor, Andrea Leadsom, has been appointed leader of the House of Commons.
Michael Gove now heads up the ministerial team at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mr Gove, a Scot and a former journalist, was elected Conservative MP for Surrey Heath in 2005. The authority runs a commingled recycling service and residual collection on an alternate weekly basis with weekly food waste collections. In January this year, Surrey Heath became part of a four-council group setting up a single tier waste service with contractor Amey chosen to collect material.
Focus
The appointment of Mr Gove was welcomed by the chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, Andrew Bird who said he hoped that it would put the environment more “in focus”.
Mr Bird said he thought it was a “good appointment” and described Michael Gove as a “strong character”. And, he added: “He is the sort of guy who can make positive changes. He is well known and hopefully he can put the environment back in focus.”
Concern
Environmental pressure group, Friends of the Earth took a different view. A spokesperson said: “Michael Gove’s appointment as environment minister is a concern. He attempted to remove climate change from the geography national curriculum, and has even suggested watering down EU wildlife protection rules.
“Young people, who voted in droves at the general election, care about the state of their environment. If Theresa May wants to engage with the youth vote she has made a poor start.”
Exit work
Defra has listed “oversight of EU exit work and the overall policy programme” as top of the list of the new secretary of state’s responsibilities. He will also be responsible for international relations and departmental administration.
Past experience saw Mr Gove as shadow minister for housing from 2005 to 2007 and shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families from 2007 to 2010. He was appointed secretary of state for education in May 2010 until July 2014.
In the past he described himself as a “shy green” when he addressed the launch of the Conservative Environment Network in 2014.
Then he also spoke of being brought up in Aberdeen and how his father was a fish merchant.
Mr Gove told the Network that as well as a strong economy, “we also want to pass onto the next generation the natural beauty that all of us have enjoyed, the diversity of creation that has flourished in these islands, and we wanted to make sure that this is properly valued and available to future generations in the way that it has been available to us.”
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