Junior minister replaces Shapps as energy secretary

Grant Shapps has been replaced as secretary of state for energy security and net zero by Claire Coutinho, who has less than a year’s ministerial experience.

The move has been triggered by Shapps’ appointment as secretary of state for defence following Ben Wallace’s resignation on Thursday (31 August).

Coutinho, who has only been an MP since the 2019 general election, has been a junior minister at the Department for Education since last October.

She briefly held a similar parliamentary under-secretary of state role – the lowest rung on the ministerial ladder – at the Department for Work and Pensions in Liz Truss’ short lived government.

However she is regarded as an ally of Rishi Sunak having served in an unpaid role as parliamentary private secretary at the Treasury when the prime minister was chancellor of the exchequer.

Before entering Parliament to become MP for East Surrey, Coutinho’s role included working as a special adviser at the Treasury.

Shapps became the first secretary of state at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero when it was set up earlier this year.

By entering the Cabinet to become energy security secretary Coutinho has, like Sunak when he was promoted to become Treasury chief secretary in 2019, leapfrogged a host of more senior ministers.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the new energy secretary’s inbox is “already groaning under the weight of vital decisions which need to be made to reform Britain’s broken energy system”.

He added: “Energy bills remain at record levels with every unit of energy costing double what it did in winter 2020/21, with daily standing charges also increasing and customers in record levels of energy debt.

“As well as securing financial support to help people stay warm this winter, the new ministerial team will need to amend the Energy Bill to ban the forced transfer of households onto prepayment meters and improve the energy efficiency of rented properties.

“The secretary of state also needs to speed up reforms to the electricity market to ensure customers quickly enjoy the advantages of more affordable renewable energy, and so that their electricity rates are no longer subject to the unpredictable cost fluctuations of fossil fuels.

“There is also the opportunity for ministers to turn the current crisis into an opportunity to engage households in a large-scale retrofitting programme. They must also look at addressing UK energy security and independence by weaning the UK off its dependence on oil and gas and ending subsidies for fossil fuels, using this money to support a fair transition onto cleaner heat.”