How Cumbria and the Scottish borders have been affected by Rishi Sunak's government reshuffle

New prime minister's Rishi Sunak's government reshuffle has affected our region's Conservative MPs.

Alister Jack, MP for Dumfries and Galloway is continuing as the Secretary of State for Scotland. As a member of the cabinet, his responsibility is to represent Scottish interests and advocate for the policies of the UK government within Scotland. Mr Jack has been in this position since July 2019.

Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk MP John Lamont has been appointed as a minister in the Scotland office working with Alister Jack.

Trudy Harrison, the MP for Copeland will remain at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Meanwhile, Workington MP Mark Jenkinson is no longer a government whip.

Also having an impact on West Cumbria is the return of Michael Gove to the position of Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This means that he will once again be in charge of the decision on whether to approve plans to build a new coal mine near Whitehaven.

The decision had an earlier deadline of 7 July but was delayed following the sacking of Mr Gove by Boris Johnson amid a government crisis.

The new deadline for the coal mine decision is 8 November.

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