Picture: Greg Hands MP
November 13, 2023
Chelsea and Fulham MP took to social media this Monday afternoon (13 November) to express his disappointment at being removed as Conservative Party chairman.
He added that he was ‘able to choose’ to go back to the trade ministry, where he has worked on four previous occasions, and that it was ‘a job I also love’. He joked that he still had his old business cards but that the department had been rebranded since his previous stint.
Despite Mr Hands’ positive response to the move, which was part of a comprehensive cabinet reshuffle which included the return of David Cameron to front-line politics with his appointment as Foreign Secretary, many commentators are describing it as a demotion. As a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade he will not normally attend cabinet meetings
He had only been made Chairman in January 2023 following the firing of Nadhim Zahawi. The role made him responsible for party administration and election campaigning.
Poor results in recent by elections had led to calls from some within his own party for him to stand down but he refused to quit blaming the disastrous loss of safe seats on ‘legacy issues’ that predated his time as Chairman and Rishi Sunak’s term as Prime Minister.
He is to be replaced by Richard Holden who has only been an MP since 2019 and, assuming he remains in post, will lead the Conservatives campaign at the next general election.
Other high profile departures include Suella Braveman being sacked as Home Secretary and Therese Coffey leaving DEFRA.
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |