Michael Gove sacked, now meet the woman taking his place
Theresa May has appointed Liz Truss as Justice Secretary — the first woman ever to hold this position.
In what’s shaping up to be yet another turbulent day in British politics, former Justice Secretary Michael Gove was ruthlessly sacked this morning by brand new Prime Minister May.
For the next hour, Twitter agonised over who the new replacement would be.
Many lawyers feared it’d be round two for Chris Grayling, who has been accused of cocking up the justice system while he was Lord Chancellor. Others speculated it would be Jeremy Hunt, who no one really likes either.
But the firm favourite, in the legal twittersphere anyway, was former Attorney-General Dominic Grieve QC.
Fingers crossed for Dominic Grieve as Lord Chancellor!
— Shoaib M Khan (@ShoaibMKhan) July 13, 2016
I hope new Justice Secretary is Dominic Grieve, or sb else legally literate who will help undo what Grayling did at MOJ.
— Ted Loveday (@TedTalksUK) July 14, 2016
So imagine the surprise when May announced the new justice secretary was, er, none of these people.
Enter Liz Truss: MP for South West Norfolk.
A bit about her: her background is not in law — she studied Politics, Economics and Philosophy at Oxford and then went on to work in sales and economics. She used to be the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Her father was a professor of maths at the University of Leeds, and Truss has a head for figures, too: while working as deputy director of Reform, she co-authored a report called The Value of Mathematics.
Like May — but unlike Gove — Truss fought for the UK to remain in the EU. She’s also been very vocal about her desire to scrap the Human Rights Act, something PM May also wants.
Rather excitingly, there is now speculation about whether Truss will be known as ‘Lady Chancellor’.
Liz Truss. First Lady Chancellor ever.
— Max Hardy (@maxbarrister) July 14, 2016
So, lawyers, breathe a sigh of relief: Grayling is not our new Justice Secretary!!!!!
