Corona czar Patrick Vallance appointed UK science minister

Patrick Vallance was the UK government's chief scientific adviser at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Adrian Dennis-WPA Pool/Getty

The science adviser who provided nightly updates on British TV during the coronavirus pandemic has been appointed as the UK’s science minister, one of several appointments made by new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he begins forming his government following Labour’s landslide victory in the July 4 election.

Patrick Vallance, a clinical researcher and former head of research and development at pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, will take up the role at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which has undergone several reshuffles and ministerial changes during the Conservatives’ 14 years of rule.

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As a scientist who is neither a Member of Parliament (MP) nor a minister, Ballance’s appointment appears to be a first for the Department of Science. He served as the Chief Scientific Adviser in the Conservative government from 2018 to 2023, helping to shape the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Balans’s hiring is a reassuring signal to the wider research community that they have someone who actually understands what they are doing and the constraints, says Jill Rutter, a former civil servant and researcher at the Institute for Government, a think tank in London. There is precedent for putting a non-politician in the job, says Rutter; the business leader David Sainsbury held the job from 1998 to 2006 during Tony Blair’s Labour government, but he was not a scientist.

centrist minister

Vallance will work under Hove MP Peter Kyle. He was appointed Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Skills on July 5 and sits on the Prime Minister’s most senior advisory group, the Cabinet. Kyle, who was the shadow science secretary when Labour was in opposition, was appointed in September 2023. A former aid worker with a PhD in regional economic development, the minister is likely to be welcomed by the industry research community. Writing for X, former Conservative science secretary George Freeman described Kyle as a dynamic, modernising, centrist reformer, not an old-left winger.

The full ministerial team for the Department of Science, Innovation and Skills has not yet been announced. Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda and previously Shadow Minister for Creative Industries and Digital, has been appointed as the department's deputy minister. Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West and a long-time Shadow Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, has not yet taken up the role.

Peter Kyle has taken over as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, a role he held in the opposition government. Source: Alex McBride/Getty

Along with Balans, Starmer has appointed other outside experts to ministerial posts. James Timson, a business leader and former chairman of the London-based charity Prison Reform Trust, will be the prisons minister, while Richard Hummer, a lawyer with expertise in international law and human rights, will be the government’s chief legal adviser, the attorney general. They will all be peers, meaning they will sit in the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament, and serve as ministers.

A big advantage of appointing outside political experts is that they are less likely to seek high-level political positions, Luther says. Balans is unlikely to seek promotions or reshuffles, she says.

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The appointment of experts echoes moves by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who led the Labour government from 2007 to 2010. Kieran Flanagan, a science policy researcher at the University of Manchester in the UK, says Brown appointed non-politicians to some ministries, including the Department of Health, as part of his goal of forming a government with all the talents of the people.

But Flanagan warns that appointing an expert does not guarantee success as a minister. You are simply replacing ignorance of the technical and professional aspects of a subject with ignorance of the higher-level, practical politics of the issue.

Peter Kyle (left) and current Prime Minister Keir Starmer (center) at the AstraZeneca Research Institute in Macclesfield, England, in 2023. Photo: Jason Roberts/Getty

Flanagan suggests that Balans was appointed because of his professional experience as a senior science adviser, which he says gives him a strong perspective on how to coordinate across governments, how to mobilize the science base to support public policy goals, and how to achieve missions. For example, Balans served on the vaccine task force during the pandemic, leading the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Continuity of service

Beyond these expert appointments, the new government's dominant message, Luther says, is continuity. The good news is that people who have served in such roles in the opposition are stepping into those roles.

Labour's manifesto during the election campaign named Britain's research institutions as areas where the country has a global advantage and said the party would support them as part of its efforts to boost economic growth. But there was no specific commitment to science funding.

The spotlight will also be on Bridget Phillipson, the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, who is responsible for higher education as the education minister. She will also be the minister for women and equalities. In her first speech to the Department for Education on July 5, Phillipson said the state of university finances was one of many issues that was well known to all staff but had received relatively little attention in recent weeks during the election campaign.

Many universities are struggling financially as domestic student tuition has been frozen since 2017 and the number of international students has declined.

Climate Focus

Researchers hope the cabinet will bring ambition to the country’s climate agenda. The previous government rolled back and delayed several decarbonisation measures and announced new exploration permits for gas and oil companies, putting the UK’s role as a climate leader at risk.

Starmer has appointed Ed Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, as energy secretary. Miliband, who led Labour in its 2015 general election defeat, has a record of being outspoken on inequality while also championing environmental and climate issues, says Joeri Rogelj, a climate scientist and research director at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute. There is also hope that the energy secretary’s climate ambitions will be backed by other cabinet members in key positions.

Along with Miliband, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, campaigned on the need to combine racial and climate justice with a fair transition to a low-carbon economy that benefits all communities.

But there are some concerns. In February, Starmer and Rachel Reeves, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, now chancellor of the exchequer and the most senior British finance minister, cut proposed funding for Labour’s green investment plan from $28 billion ($36 billion) a year to $15 billion. It is unclear whether the government will push ahead with this pre-election pledge.

Marie-Claire Brisebois, an energy policy scholar at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, and co-director of the Sussex Energy Group, says there is also a tension between the Labour government's growth agenda and its net zero target.

Still, she says it is a step change from the previous government, and it is very encouraging to see people with experience in climate and environmental issues in key portfolios.

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