Andy Burnham, newly sworn in as the UK’s prime minister today, has sacked science and tech minister Liz Kendall and business minister Peter Kyle.
Both Kendall and Kyle were appointed to their positions in September last year. Their replacements are yet to be announced, but reports suggest Jonathan Reynolds is expected to return as business secretary.
Over the weekend, speculation mounted over whether Burnham might absorb the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which Kendall ran, into a wider business-focused department.
DSIT was created in 2023 under former prime minister Rishi Sunak to bring together responsibility for science, AI, digital regulation and innovation. Since then it has overseen flagship initiatives including the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, investment in sovereign AI compute and the expansion of the AI Security Institute.
The reports that DSIT could close prompted a swift backlash from startup founders, investors and tech policy leaders, with several arguing that another Whitehall reorganisation would consume time better spent delivering on the UK’s AI and digital ambitions.
