David Cameron ushers in a new era at the Treasury as Damien Hinds and David Gauke join Greg Hands and Harriet Baldwin
George Osborne is set to work with a new team at the Treasury following this week’s Cabinet reshuffle.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced one new Treasury minister and the reappointment of another yesterday, the latest in a slew of postings he has doled out to loyal Conservatives following last week’s General Election.
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Cameron said Damian Hinds will join the Treasury as exchequer secretary, and David Gauke will stay on as chief secretary to the Treasury. Hinds and Gauke join chief secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands and economic secretary Harriet Baldwin, who were appointed by Number 10 on Monday.
Hinds, who was first elected to parliament in 2010, was assistant whip in the last government and sat for two years on the education select committee. Gauke, meanwhile, returns to the Treasury following five years’ experience in the department. After the General Election in 2010, he served as exchequer secretary to the Treasury — Hinds’s new job — before being promoted to financial secretary in 2014.
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The only Treasury ministerial slot yet to be confirmed is that of commercial secretary. Lord Deighton, who headed the organising team for the London Olympics, has held the job since 2013.
OSBORNE’S NEW TREASURY TEAM
HARRIET BALDWIN
ECONOMIC SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
As City minister, Baldwin will oversee financial services policy and the government’s relationship with the City. The former JP Morgan Chase managing director is expected to look after banking reform and regulation at home and abroad.
GREG HANDS
CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
The former deputy chief whip worked for nearly a decade in banking before joining parliament in 2005. As Osborne’s second-in-command, Hands will be responsible for overseeing public expenditures in his new role.
DAMIAN HINDS
EXCHEQUER SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
Hinds will be tasked with various expenditures in his new job at the treasury, including childcare policy, tax credits and charities. He’ll also be expected to look after excise duties and gambling taxes in his new position.
DAVID GAUKE
FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
Gauke returns to this role, which he was first appointed to in 2014. A former solicitor in the City at Macfarlanes, Gauke is responsible for strategic oversight of the UK tax system, including corporate, business and property taxes.
TO BE CONFIRMED…
COMMERCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
Lord Deighton held this post in the last government, but neither No10 nor the Treasury could confirm his reappointment at press time. The commercial secretary is tasked with overseeing infrastructure projects.