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Who’s who
in the new British Cabinet
1. PRIME MINISTER: DAVID CAMERON 43
Salary £144,520
In-tray Reducing deficit, formulating an Afghanistan
exit strategy, restoring economic fortunes, making schools
and hospitals the best in the world, keeping the Tory Right
happy
Little fact He is related to the Labour leader Harriet
Harman, according to an amateur genealogist
2. DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: NICK CLEGG 43
Salary £137,294
In-tray He will have his own office in the Cabinet
Office, and will have special responsibility for political
reform, including changes to the voting system
Little fact Would have quite liked to have been played by
Henry Fonda in any film of his life
3. CHANCELLOR: GEORGE OSBORNE 38
Salary £137,294
In-tray Cut Britain’s record £163 billion fiscal
deficit within four years and also cut £6 billion of
departmental waste by the end of the financial year
Little fact A fortnight before his 39th birthday, he is the
youngest Chancellor for more than 100 years
4. HOME: THERESA MAY 53
Salary £137,294
In-tray Scrap ID cards and biometric passports; work
out mechanism for cap on non-EU migrants; reduce time that
DNA can be stored; change the anti-terrorism powers,
regulate CCTV
Little fact Her husband, Philip, is an investment banker but
avoids the limelight
5. FOREIGN: WILLIAM HAGUE 49
Salary £137,294
In-tray To get a grip on Britain’s military strategy
in Afghanistan and chart a cohesive course on Britain’s
relationship with the US and Europe. Tackle Iran and nuclear
proliferation
Little fact Bragged that he drank 14 pints of beer a day
during a student summer job
6. DEFENCE: LIAM FOX 48
Salary £137,294
In-tray Oversee the war in Afghanistan and look after
British troops. Start the Strategic Defence Review into the
Armed Forces and get a grip on Britain’s military strategy
in the Afghan war
Little fact Used to go on holiday with Michael Portillo
7. JUSTICE: KENNETH CLARKE 69
Salary £137,294
In-tray Overcrowded prisons, jail building, high
reconviction rates by prisoners given 12 months or less,
inmates’ votes. Sites for more jails, improving confidence
in non-custodial sentences, review libel laws
Little fact A member of the Campaign for Real Ale
8. HEALTH: ANDREW LANSLEY 53
Salary £137,294
In-tray With cuts looming, he will be responsible for
ensuring management, rather than frontline nurses and
doctors, bear the brunt. Tories have also pledged more
cancer drugs
Little fact Joined Civil Service from university, and became
Norman Tebbit’s private secretary
9. EDUCATION: MICHAEL GOVE 42
Salary £137,294
In-tray Programme of school reforms, with “free”
schools founded by community groups and education providers.
Slim down national curriculum; give greater professional
autonomy to teachers
Little fact Once wrote in The Times supporting the return of
hanging
10. BUSINESS: VINCE CABLE 67
Salary £137,294
In-tray Work out how to carve up banks and limit bonuses,
when Tories want to do neither
Little fact Talented ballroom dancer (like his predecessor
Lord Mandelson). As the stand-in Lib Dem party leader, he
described Gordon Brown as going from “Stalin to Mr Bean”
11. TREASURY: DAVID LAWS 44
Salary £137,294
In-tray As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, he will
be the one telling departments how much less money they are
going to have
Little fact His new boss, George Osborne, once offered him a
seat in the Shadow Cabinet. Laws declined, saying: “I am not
a Tory”
12. WORK & PENSIONS: IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 56
Salary £137,294
In-tray The soaring £11 billion benefits bill is
likely to be the sole focus. He will also enthusiastically
pursue the Tory promise to remove the “couple penalty” in
the benefits system
Little fact His 2003 novel The Devil’s Tune was badly
received, and never made it to paperback
13. ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE: CHRIS HUHNE 55
Salary £137,294
In-tray A low-carbon infrastructure bank, green home
loans to improve energy efficiency and a reversal of plans
for a third runway at Heathrow
Little fact Estimated to be worth more than £1 million. His
expenses claims in the last Parliament included a 79p bill
for a pack of HobNobs
14. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: ERIC PICKLES 58
Salary £137,294
In-tray Introducing the national citizen service for
16-year-olds, and pushing through the Conservative manifesto
theme of the Big Society
Little fact A teenage Red, he was given Leon Trotsky’s
History of the Russian Revolution as a present on his 14th
birthday
15. TRANSPORT: PHILIP HAMMOND 54
Salary £137,294
In-tray High-speed rail network, new airports and
runways, Crossrail: all projects the coalition would like.
But is there money available?
Little fact Varied career before Parliament, giving him a
net worth of £9m, with highlight perhaps working as adviser
to the Malawi Government
16. ENVIRONMENT: CAROLINE SPELMAN 52
Salary £137,294
In-tray Improve the nation’s flood defences, given
growing concerns about the rising levels of the oceans.
Encourage businesses to invest in waste disposal schemes
Little fact It was ruled last year that she had misused
parliamentary allowances by claiming for a nanny
17. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ANDREW MITCHELL 54
Salary £137,294
In-tray Helping the Government to achieve the United
Nations agreed target of spending at least 0.7 per cent of
Gross Domestic Product on foreign aid by 2013
Little fact His family own El Vino’s, a wine merchant that
owns a chain of London wine bars
18. NORTHERN IRELAND: OWEN PATERSON 53
Salary £137,294
In-tray Tackle the DUP’s claims that plans to make £6
billion of savings would mean £200 million cuts in Northern
Ireland. Maintaining Tony Blair’s legacy of peace in the
Province
Little fact Hosted secret talks at Hatfield House this year
between the DUP and Ulster Unionists
19. SCOTLAND: DANNY ALEXANDER 37
Salary £137,294
In-tray Tackling the SNP’s plans for a referendum on
Scottish independence. Enabling greater devolution to the
Scottish Parliament and combating Alex Salmond’s opposition
to spending cuts in Scotland
Little fact Claimed for Mr Muscle household cleaner from a
99p shop on his parliamentary expenses
20. WALES: CHERYL GILLAN 58
Salary £137,294
In-tray Dealing with the demands being made by Plaid Cymru
and its allies for a referendum on increasing the lawmaking
powers of the Welsh Assembly
Little fact During the furore over parliamentary expenses,
it was revealed that she claimed for three packets of dog
food
21. CULTURE & MEDIA: JEREMY HUNT 43
Salary £137,294
In-tray Ensuring a successful London Olympics in
2012. Reforming the BBC, including deciding whether to act
on plans to scrap the BBC Trust and freeze the licence fee.
Finding money to pay for broadband in rural areas
Little fact He is a proficient Japanese-speaker, having
taught in Japan after graduating from Oxford
22. LEADER OF THE LORDS: LORD STRATHCLYDE 50
Salary £137,294
In-tray What to do about the intractable issue of
whether the House of Lords should be reformed, and how
Little fact One of the wealthiest people among senior
Tories. In 2008, he was estimated to be worth around £10
million. He is famous for hosting champagne and oyster
parties at the annual Conservative Party conference
23. WITHOUT PORTFOLIO: BARONESS WARSI 39
Salary £137,294
In-tray The Conservative Party chairman, tasked with
keeping the various wings of the party united and combating
criticism from Tory grassroots over what was seen as a
flawed election campaign, which led to the hung Parliament
Little fact First Muslim woman to be a member of the Cabinet
ALSO ATTENDING CABINET:
FRANCIS MAUDE: Minister for the Cabinet Office, Paymaster
General
OLIVER LETWIN: Minister of State, Cabinet Office
DAVID WILLETS: Minister of State (Universities and Science)
SIR GEORGE YOUNG: Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy
Seal
PATRICK MCLOUGHLIN: Parliamentary Chief Secretary to the
Treasury and Chief Whip
INVITED WHEN REQUIRED
DOMINIC GRIEVE: Attorney-General
Source: The Times, 13 May 2010
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