Guy Opperman returns to the DWP. Photo www.parliament.uk (CC BY 3.0)
Rishi Sunak has continued his ministerial reshuffle appointing three ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to serve under secretary of state Mel Stride and moving the pensions minister Alex Burghart to a Cabinet Office role.
The reshuffle marks a promotion for Guy Opperman, who becomes a minister of state at the DWP. He had previously served as a parliamentary under-secretary of state (PuSS) at the department prior to Liz Truss becoming prime minister in September.
Tom Pursglove, the MP for Corby, has also been appointed as a minister of state at the DWP and Laura Trott, the MP for Sevenoaks, has been appointed as PuSS at the department.
Departmental responsibilities for the new ministers have not yet been confirmed but pensions minister Alex Burghart has been reshuffled to become a PuSS at the Cabinet Office.
Opperman, the MP for Hexham, was minister for pensions and financial inclusion between June 2017 and September this year, when he was replaced in the role by Burghart.
Pursglove has previously held various ministerial roles at the Home Office and was an assistant government whip from August 2019 until 17 September 2021.
Commenting on Twitter, Opperman said he was "delighted to be appointed by HM The King as minister of state at DWP in the PM's new government".
Burghart suggested that Opperman may well be his replacement, noting: "Sad to be leaving the fantastic pensions team at the DWP but very glad to be handing back to the very great Guy Opperman."
