Kit Malthouse named Secretary of State for Education
By Rachel Lawler
New Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Kit Malthouse to the position of Secretary of State for Education.
Malthouse takes over from James Cleverly, who has served as Secretary of State for Education since July 2022, when he took over from Michelle Donelan.
Donelan had been in the role for just two days when she resigned on 7 July, having replaced Nadhim Zahawi.
Cleverly has now been promoted to Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, while Donelan has been named as the new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Malthouse has previously served as Minister of State for Policing, Minister of State for Policing and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He has been MP for North West Hampshire since 2015.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: 鈥淲e welcome Kit Malthouse's appointment as education secretary and look forward to working closely with him in his new role.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt he takes on the role at an extremely challenging time for the early years sector as we continue to battle through an early years funding crisis, severe recruitment and retention challenges and the impact of soaring costs. Now more than ever, it is vital that the new education secretary works with the sector to ensure that the sector can thrive, and not just survive: this means a focus on investing in the early years, not deregulating it.
鈥淭he early years is a vital part of the education sector and should be treated as such. We hope that Mr Malthouse will lead the way in valuing the sector and putting forward a long-term plan that is underpinned by adequate long-term funding, focuses on the needs of the child and recognises the early years workforce as the high-quality and hardworking educators they are.鈥