Liz Truss, a former trade secretary tipped as a future British prime minister, will be Boris Johnson’s new point-person on Brexit.
Truss will bolster her existing post as foreign secretary with a series of key Brexit-related roles as she succeeds David Frost, who dramatically quit as a minister on Saturday night with a swipe at Johnson’s government.
Announcing the appointment on Sunday night, No.10 Downing Street said Truss would now serve as the U.K.’s co-chair of the Partnership Council and Joint Committee, set up to oversee the implementation of the Brexit deal.
She will, No. 10 said, “become lead negotiator with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol,” the contentious post-Brexit border arrangement that has seen ongoing tension between Brussels and London since the U.K’s departure from the bloc last year.
Truss led the Department for International Trade, tasked with drumming up post-Brexit trade deals for the U.K., until earlier this year, when she was promoted by Johnson to foreign secretary. She consistently polls well with Conservative party members, and is seen as a strong contender in a future Tory leadership contest.
She is the first U.K. Brexit negotiator to have openly backed Remain in the 2016 EU referendum, but has since said she would vote differently.
Chris Heaton-Harris, previously a minister of state in the Department for Transport, will join Truss in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as minister for Europe.
Further reading: Everything you need to know about Liz Truss, By POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio, Graham Lanktree and Cristina Gallardo.