The scientific consultant who delighted British television with nightly updates during the Covid 19 pandemic was appointed the country's scientific minister. The appointment is one of many of the new British Prime Minister Keir Strander, who began to name his cabinet after his overwhelming victory in the elections on July 4th.

Patrick Vallance, a clinical researcher and former head of research and development at Glaxosmithkline, takes on the role in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which saw several restructuring and minister during the 14-year rule of the conservatives.

The appointment of Vallance as a scientist who is not a member of the parliament and has no ministerial experience seems to be a premiere for the Ministry of Science. He has been the government's scientific chief consultant since 2018 to 2023 and shaped the government's reaction to Covid pandemic.

The attitude of Vallance is "a calming signal to the broader research community that they actually have someone who understands what they do and the restrictions," says Jill Rutter, a former civil servant and researcher at the Institute for Government, a Think tank in London. According to Rutter, there are some precedents for the occupation of the role with a non-politician, pointing out that the managing director David Sainsbury holds the position during Tony Blair's Labor government for eight years.

Center Minister

Vallance will serve under Peter Kyle, who was appointed Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology on July 5 and has a seat in the cabinet, the highest advisor to the Prime Minister. Kyle has held the science department in Labor's shadow government since September 2023. The minister, who worked as a auxiliary worker and has a doctorate in community economic development, will probably be welcomed by the industrial research community. In a contribution to X, the former conservative science minister George Freeman Kyle described as "not one of the old left - but a dynamic modernized centrally reformer".

The full minister of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology still has to be announced. Chris Byrant, who was previously Shadow Minister for Creative Industry and Digital, was appointed Junior Minister in the Ministry. So far, Chi Owurah, a long -time shadow minister in the team for science, research and innovation, has not been assigned a role.


State secretary for science, innovation and technology Peter Kyle goes to the number 10 downing street.

In addition to Vallance, Straßer has also appointed other external experts to ministerial posts. The entrepreneur and chairman of the charity organization Prison's Reform Trust, James Timpson, becomes Minister of Justice, and Richard Hermer, a lawyer with expertise in international law and human rights, becomes a general lawyer, the highest legal advisor of the government. Since they were not chosen as members of the parliament, they are all raised to the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, what enables them to act as ministers.

A "big plus" when calling experts outside of politics is that they are less likely to be looking for higher political offices, says Rutter. Vallance "will not search for a different office for promotion and hope for a change," she says.

The appeals of experts reflect the measures of the former Labor government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the non-politicians in some ministries, including the Ministry of Health, to install a “government team of all talents”, says Kieron Flanagan, a scientific policy researcher at the University of Manchester, UK