British parliament re-elects Hoyle as Speaker

THE British parliament has unanimously re-elected Lindsay Hoyle as the Commons speaker after convening for the first time since last week’s election.

After congratulating Hoyle, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the parliament – where his Conservative Party has 80-seat majority – is “one of the best parliaments this country has ever-produced,” citing record numbers of women and ethnic minorities.

Hoyle was elected in November to succeed John Bercow but served only a few days as speaker in the Commons, the British parliament’s main house, before it was dissolved for the election campaign.
Johnson added that his government plans on Friday to present its bill on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.
Johnson is carrying out a limited reshuffle of his government after urging newly elected Tory MPs to “change our country for the better”.

Simon Hart has been named as Welsh secretary, replacing Alun Cairns, who quit at the start of the election.
And Nicky Morgan stays as culture secretary, despite standing down as an MP. She is taking a peerage and will sit as a cabinet minister in the Lords.

Opposition parties said she had been “rewarded for political sycophancy”.

But Ms Morgan, who will be in charge of broadband and media policy, suggested she might only be in the role for a few weeks – pending what are expected to be far-reaching changes to the PM’s top team after the UK has left the EU on 31 January.

Most cabinet ministers – including Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel – are staying put following the Conservatives’ election victory. They have only been in post since July, when Johnson became PM.

There has been unconfirmed speculation that the PM is contemplating a much bigger shake-up in February, including changes to a number of departments, including the Department for Exiting the European Union, the Home Office and Department for International Development.
Ms Morgan took many by surprise when she announced that she would not be standing as MP for Loughborough at the election.

However, the former education secretary – who cited the abuse that female MPs had received as one of the reasons for her standing down – was one of Johnson’s most visible backers during the campaign, prompting speculation she intended to remain in public life.