West Country MP Rebecca Pow has been appointed water minister.
Pow replaces Therese Coffey, who was promoted to secretary of state for work and pensions last week following her predecessor Amber Rudd’s resignation over Boris Johnson’s approach to Brexit.
Pow has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).
The details of her portfolio on the Defra website show that her responsibilities include flooding and water.
The 58-year old’s brief also includes shepherding the Environment Bill, which will create the new framework for the UK’s post-Brexit environmental regulation, through parliament.
And she will oversee Defra’s 25-year Environment Plan and its work on climate change adaptation, including co-ordination of the department’s input to achieving the 2050 net zero emissions goal.
Pow who describes herself as a “a traditional Conservative with.. my own added touch of green!” was previously junior minister for arts, heritage and tourism.
Before joining the government as part of Johnson’s wider government ministerial reshuffle earlier this summer, Pow had served on both the environmental audit and Defra select committees.
She is also vice-chair of climate change and a member of the sustainable built environment all party parliamentary groups.
Following the 2017 election, when Pow was re-elected to the Taunton & Deane in Somerset seat she had won from the Liberal Democrats, she was appointed parliamentary private secretary to the Defra ministerial team.
Last year, she was named ‘Greenest MP of the year’ in the Climate Coalition pressure group’s Green Heart Hero awards.