Ed Vaizey retains Culture Minister role as reshuffle concludes

Ed Vaizey has retained his role as Culture Minister and Jo Johnson has been appointed as Universities and Science Minister as Prime Minister David Cameron completes his ministerial reshuffle.

Since winning a Parliamentary majority in last week’s General Election, Cameron has been reworking his Cabinet and ministerial positions, with many former Liberal Democrat MPs replaced after losing their seats as the Tories formed a majority Government.

He has already appointed Sajid Javid as new Business Secretary, with John Whittingdale replacing him as Culture Secretary.

Vaizey holds on to his post as Culture Minister, having been a vocal supporter of the creative industries during his past term.

Prior to the election campaign, Vaizey told Design Week: “Latest figures show the design sector has been one of the highest performing under [the previous] Conservative-led government.

In 2013, 177,000 people in the creative economy were employed in design and designer fashion, up by almost a fifth from 2011. Even more impressively, this group had the largest percentage increase in employment in the creative industries in the same period.”

Vaizey added: “Government takes design seriously. In 2013 our single domain GOV.UK won the coveted Design Museum Design of the Year Award. The team behind this, the Government Digital Service, is estimated to make savings of £1.7bn a year by making all Government services digital by default.

“On skills, we have announced £20m to match industry investment for creative industry skills, which will assist in the development of the designers of the future… Our commitment to the design sector is clear.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson’s brother Jo Johnson has been appointed as Universities and Science Minister, taking over from Greg Clark.

This ministerial post has traditionally covered the design industry, with former incumbent David Willetts overseeing the 2010 Temple Review, which saw the Design Council reformed as a charity.