Health Secretary: Coffey Dropped; Sunak Reinstates Stephen Barclay

Health Secretary: Coffey Dropped; Sunak Reinstates Stephen Barclay

Day one of the Sunak government.  He didn’t exactly get stuck into the NHS dental access problem, as he promised during the original leadership hustings, but his cabinet reshuffle saw Thérèse Coffey switched to the Environment after only being Health Secretary since her appointment by Liz Truss on September 6th.

Coffey replaced Stephen ‘Steve’ Barclay MP, appointed by Boris Johnson as Sajid Javid’s replacement during the mass walkout of ministers that precipitated his downfall. 

Barclay served as Johnson’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 5th July to 6th September.  Wikipedia’s profile of Mr Barclay quotes the editor of the Health Service Journal "never has a politician arrived in the post of health secretary trailing a worse reputation among NHS leaders.”

As GDPUK posted this news it had not been confirmed which junior MP would be awarded responsibility for dental services, reporting to Mr Barclay.

Steve Barclay entered the House of Commons in 2010 as MP for North-East Cambridgeshire which he currently holds with a majority of 29,993. 

His illustrious career includes a spell as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union 2018 – 2020.  He was then appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury followed by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.  Johnson appointed him Downing Street Chief of Staff in February 2022.

Unfortunately, but typical of the modern political class, the new Health Secretary’s background is devoid of any medical or social services background.  Privately educated, he went to Sandhurst and then to Peterhouse Cambridge, where he read history. This was followed by a spell at Chester College of Law training to be a solicitor.

After working as an articled clerk with an insurance firm Barclay worked for the Financial Services Authority and Barclays Bank.le

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