Ranil Jayawardena announced as new Defra secretary

Former minister for international trade Ranil Jayawardena has been announced as the new Defra secretary.

Mr Jayawardena, who was appointed to prime minister Liz Truss’ new cabinet on Tuesday 6 September, is relatively unknown in agriculture but will now have oversight of farming, environment, water and nature policy.

He replaces George Eustice, Conservative MP for Camborne and Redruth, who had been Defra secretary since February 2020, having previously been farm minister for almost five years.

See also: Farmers Weekly Podcast Ep 122: Has Truss got farming priorities right?

Mr Jayawardena said: “It is a privilege to serve as environment secretary. From food security and supporting our farmers, to water quality and economic growth for our rural communities, there is much to do.

“I am looking forward to working with the department and people across Britain to deliver a thriving British food industry, a cleaner environment and maximise the benefits of Brexit.”

His appointment, which was widely predicted in the national press, comes at a time when the department is on the brink of delivering new post-Brexit agricultural subsidy schemes and initiatives to meet environmental targets.

This new brief should prove interesting as his voting record shows that he has consistently voted against measures to prevent climate change.

And for farmers who are hoping he might deliver financial incentives for low carbon emission electricity generation methods, there may be disappointment too as he voted against this in 2018.

We are delighted to welcome the new #Environment Secretary Rt Hon Ranil Jayawardena to @DefraGovUK#Reshuffle https://t.co/iq58KDiY7V

— Defra UK (@DefraGovUK) September 6, 2022

Mr Jayawardena was first elected as Conservative MP for North East Hampshire in 2015 and had served as minister for international trade under Boris Johnson since May 2020.

Prior to that, he had established himself as a politician of principle, resigning from his role as parliamentary private secretary to the Ministry of Justice in November 2018 over the UK’s draft Brexit agreement with the EU.

“It does not deliver a good and fair Brexit,” he insisted in his letter of resignation.

Unlike many of his cabinet colleagues, he did not step down from his job in the Department for International Trade in July in the days leading up to Boris Johnson’s announcement that he intended to stand down as prime minister once a new Tory leader is found.

With that leader now in post, Mr Jayawardena finds himself with a new job too.

Studied economics

He was educated in his local comprehensive school in north-east Hampshire and later studied government at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Before he was elected to parliament, he was a councillor, serving as deputy leader of the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane.

Mr Jayawardena, who is married with a son and two daughters, combined his service in local government with working for Lloyds Banking Group plc.

He also has commercial experience in the pharmaceutical, construction, transport and leisure sectors.

Unlike his predecessor, he has no direct experience of agriculture. Mr Eustice often made reference to his family’s fruit farming business in Cornwall.