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Steve Double who was appointed as water minister in July following Rebecca Pow’s resignation has not been given the job in Liz Truss’ government.
The position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was the first ministerial role held by the MP for St Austell.
He described the “huge honour” that serving in Boris Johnson’s government and his eight weeks as Defra minister covering water had been.
“Sadly, I have been informed that the new Prime Minister no longer has a place for me in her government,” Double said. “I accept that she needs to build her own team to take us through the huge challenges of the coming months and years. I hoped I could continue to contribute to this as a part of government but sadly it is not to be.”
During his tenure water was headline news, with most of the country in drought conditions and public outrage over sewage overflows continuing to build.
“Politics can be brutal at times, but we all know that is the nature of the field we are in,” he said and added he would support the new government from the backbenches.
As yet there has been no announcement of Double’s successor.
Ranil Jayawardena was this week appointed the new secretary of state for Defra, replacing George Eustice who had held the position for two years.
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