MAIDSTONE AND The Weald MP and Voice columnist Helen Grant has been handed a new job as vice chair for communities at Conservative central headquarters.

The new appointment was announced as part of cabinet reshuffle.

Grant is one of a brace of talented MPs from diverse backgrounds that prime minister Theresa May is hoping will bring a modern look to the Conservative party and broaden its appeal especially to younger voters.

DELIGHTED
Grant said in a statement: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as one of my party’s Vice Chairs.  I am presently working with our new Party Chairman and CCHQ to finalise my full brief and modus operandi for this important new position.”
 
She added: “My specific role will be to be reach out to all of our country’s communities, to ensure that their voices are heard, that we engage and that we develop their trust and confidence to deliver the PM’s vision of a country that ‘works for everyone’.

My first meeting with Brandon Lewis will be tomorrow morning followed by our first CCHQ communities team meeting.  I will issue a more comprehensive statement thereafter.”

Among the other new appointments was Kemi Badenoch who entered parliament in June.

She was made a vice-chair of the Conservative Party for candidates.

Media-friendly Braintree MP James Cleverly takes over as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

He will serve as deputy to the newly-appointed chairman of the Conservative Party, Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis, who will take over from Sir Patrick McLoughlin.

RESHUFFLE
The reshuffle also saw Sam Gyimah appointed as Universities and Science Minister for England.

His role straddles the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Gyimah, who replaces Jo Johnson, who has been made Transport Minister, will work alongside the newly appointed education secretary Damian Hinds.

May said her reshuffle makes the government look "more like the country it serves" with a "new generation" of ministers brought in.
The PM has appointed several new faces to her ministerial team.

NEW DEPUTY CHAIRMAN: James Cleverly

She said: “This Government is about building a country fit for the future – one that truly works for everyone with a stronger economy and a fairer society. 
 
“This reshuffle helps us do just that by bringing fresh talent into Government, boosting delivery in key policy areas like housing, health and social care, and ensuring the Government looks more like the country it serves.
 
“It also allows a new generation of gifted Ministers to step up and make life better for people across the whole UK.”