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Three ministers appointed to DH in reshuffle

The Department of Health has recruited three new ministers to serve under health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Philip Dunne MP for Ludlow Shropshire has been appointed DH minister of state and serves directly under Jeremy Hunt, having moved from the Ministry of Defence.

While Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abbindgon, and David Mowatt MP for Warrington South have each been appointed parliamentary under secretary of state.

Lord Prior of Bramptoon stays on as under secretary and the DH representative in the House of Lords.

With former ministers Ben Gummer, George Freemant and Jane Ellison all accepting appointment elsewhere and Alistair Burt set to retire from the front bench, there is one ministerial position yet to be appointed.

The briefs that each minister would cover are due to be determined today, Mr Dunne wrote on Twitter today:

Heading off to @DHgovuk for my first day as MOS. Looking forward to getting my brief, meeting my team and briefing on issues #gettingstuckin

— Philip Dunne (@Dunne4Ludlow) July 18, 2016

Ms Blackwood wrote:

Delighted to be appointed as Minister in @DHgovuk. I’ll miss superb @CommonsSTC team a lot but will keep fighting for science & innovation

— Nicola Blackwood (@nicolablackwood) July 17, 2016

Jeremy Hunt said last week he was pleased to be remaining in the ‘best job’ in politics, after early news reports from Theresa May’s cabinet selection speculated he would be moved to another department.