LAUSR

Michael Gove has been appointed Secretary of State for environment, Food and Rural affairs following a shake up of the conservative party after the General election. Mr Gove, MP for Surrey heath, replaces andrea leadsom in this role. he will now bear overall responsibility for Defra and will have the specific responsibility for overseeing eU exit work as well as oversight of the overall policy programme, international relations, emergencies and departmental administration. accepting the post last week, he said: ‘The work of Defra matters to every single one of us whether you live in a town, a city or the countryside. ‘as we leave the european Union, i am determined to protect our precious environment, support our thriving fishing industry and help our globally renowned food and farming industries grow more, sell more and export more great British food and drink.’ Mr Gove has been regarded as a controversial choice by some newspaper and political commentators. in 2013, during his post as education secretary, he suggested removing climate change from the geography national curriculum. in 2015, he voted in support of a tax on renewable energy. his parliamentary voting record shows that he has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change, has consistently voted to sell england’s state-owned forests, and voted against financial incentives for low carbon emission electricity generation methods. he has generally voted for culling badgers to tackle bovine tuberculosis. caroline lucas, leader of the Green Party, suggested he was ‘an environmental disaster waiting to happen’. The Daily Mirror condemned him as an ‘absolutely terrible choice for environment Secretary’. Mr Gove was elected as an MP in 2005. he has held a number of senior posts including education secretary (May 2010 to July 2014) and justice secretary (May 2015 to 14 July 2016). he has also held a number of shadow ministerial positions. Previous to his parliamentary work, he was a journalist, working as a reporter in aberdeen, Scottish Television and the BBc . he was later assistant editor of The Times.