pcruciatti / Shutterstock.com
It’s the week after the week before and people are still reeling from the result of the general election, which, it’s safe to say, nobody saw coming. Just ask the pollsters.. However, David Cameron has wasted no time putting together his first all-Tory cabinet – the first in 18 years – following Friday’s result, which granted him an overall, if slim, majority.
While a few announcements were made on Friday and over the weekend, a flurry of promotions were revealed today in tweets from the Prime Minister’s Twitter account. How very modern. Of particular note to entrepreneurs and SMEs were the appointments of Sajid Javid and Anna Soubry as secretary of state for business and minister for small business respectively.
Soubry’s appointment marks the first time that small businesses will have a voice around the cabinet table, something that we’re sure will be celebrated by the SMEs that account for 99% of all businesses on these fair shores and which Cameron has previously described as the ‘lifeblood’ of the UK economy.
Soubry leaves her former position as minister of state for defence personnel, welfare and veterans, following a successful election which saw her hold onto her seat in Broxtowe. She also joins a number of other female MPs to join the cabinet, with women now making up over a third of all MPs in the House of Commons.
Congratulations are also in order for Javid who has landed one of the government’s top jobs, which has previously been held by the likes of Peter Mandelson and Lord Young. Javid will replace Vince Cable, who was one of many Lib Dems that lost a seat in last week’s general election.
It’s no wonder that Javid secured the promotion; his CV boasts a host of government roles including economic secretary, financial secretary, minister for equalities and, most recently, secretary of state for culture media and sport. He has also been tipped as a future leader of the Conservative party.
With these two overseeing the nation’s businesses, the signs are that Cameron was true to his word about his party being the one for business. Let’s just hope the pressure of the job doesn’t get to them. 
