Jack Straw has been named in the dual roles of Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor today (28 June) after new Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a radical reshuffle of his Cabinet.
Sixty-year old Straw, a former Home and Foreign Secretary in Tony Blair’s administration, takes over at the fledgling Ministry of Justice (MoJ) from Lord Falconer, who has served in the role since 2003.
As part of Brown’s reshuffle, Baroness Scotland QC takes on the policically sensitive role of Attorney General. Scotland - a former head of chambers at 1 Gray’s Inn Square - replaces the embattled Lord Goldsmith as the UK's most senior lawyer.
The appointment of Straw, who was previously Leader of the House of Commons, comes with the new-look MoJ the subject of heated debate over its perceived threat to the independence of the judiciary.
The ministry – which effectively replaced the old Department for Constitutional Affairs, wielding a wide range of new powers to oversee probation, prisons and sentencing policy – came into being last month just six weeks after the Government announced its creation.
Meanwhile, Jacqui Smith becomes Britain’s first female Home Secretary, while David Miliband and Alistair Darling are appointed Chancellor and Foreign Secretary respectively.
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