Ian Pearson, formerly of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has replaced Malcolm Wicks as science minister
Ian Pearson, formerly of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is the UK’s new science minister.
Pearson had been minister for climate change and environment at Defra since May 2006. He takes over from Malcolm Wicks, who was science minister for only eight months following Lord Sainsbury’s resignation last November.
The news was welcomed by the Royal Society. ’ Climate change has had a high profile in government while Ian Pearson was responsible for that area,’ said society spokesman Bill Hartnett. ’We hope that a similar enthusiasm for the role of science in the UK will follow him into the new ministry. It will certainly be required if we are to strengthen the science base in the UK and ensure a greater interaction between science and industry.’
Pearson’s position as minister of state for business and science falls under the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Wicks has returned to the position of energy minister, which now falls under the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (He was minister of state for energy at the Department of Trade and Industry between May 2005 and November 2006).
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