Patrick Vallance joins UK science department as Keir Starmer names first cabinet | News

Former UK chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance will serve as a minister under new science secretary Peter Kyle. The appointments were made by the country’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, who has chosen his team to run key government departments following Labour’s landslide victory in last week’s general election.

The government’s science department will be led by Kyle, who previously sat in Starmer’s shadow cabinet. In a video posted online by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Kyle claimed his department would “supercharge” the country’s science sector by being the “partner it needs” and said he planned to “transform and improve” the way scientists interact with government. The previous science secretary, Conservative politician Michelle Donelan, lost her seat in a vote last week.

Responding to the appointments, Daniel Rathbone, deputy chief executive of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), expressed relief that the new government would continue to include science representation at Cabinet level. “Having a dedicated Cabinet position for science is a great sign of the importance of R&D in the UK and something we are pleased that the new Labour government has decided to continue,” he said.

Kyle will be supported at DSIT by two ministers – Vallance and Chris Bryant. A clinical pharmacologist, Vallance served as chief scientific adviser from 2018 to 2023 and rose to prominence for his involvement in the UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He previously held senior positions at pharmaceutical giant GSK, including as head of drug discovery and later as president of research and development. Bryant, a former priest, has been appointed minister of state at DSIT, as well as at the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Unlike most of Starmer’s backbench, Vallance is not a Labour Party member. Instead, he will receive a life peerage that will allow him to sit in the House of Lords and take up a government ministerial role.

Other Cabinet appointments include Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Bridget Phillipson as Education Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds as Business Secretary and Steve Reed as Environment Secretary. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has been appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions. Miliband previously served as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2008 to 2010 during the last Labour government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.