Zac Goldsmith has been appointed as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate & Environment, in the latest appointments under new prime minister Rishi Sunak.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, a life peer, succeeds Jesse Norman MP as minister for Overseas Territories, who has been appointed as a minister in the Department for Transport.
Last week new UK PM Rishi Sunak's early Cabinet reshuffle saw Jesse Norman being taken from his role as Overseas Territories Minister.
Norman was scheduled to visit the BVI on Thursday, 27 October and Friday 28 October.
The Office of the Governor said at that time: "Following the appointment of the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak, MP, as Prime Minister, there have been a number of changes to Ministerial portfolios in the UK. The Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP has been appointed as Transport Minister in the UK Department for Transport, therefore, he has had to cancel his visit to the British Virgin Islands to take up this new role."
"Ministerial appointments are still underway and his successor will be appointed in due course," the Governor's Office added.
As one of his last acts as Overseas Territories Minister, Norman moved for extra scrutiny to be placed on Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley's Cabinet, BVI news reported.
Minister Norman instructed Governor John Rankin to draft a report in the next few weeks to assess whether Cabinet is still unjustifiably issuing tender waivers for government contracts.
Those instructions were outlined in Norman's response to the governor's first quarterly review of the ‘Framework for Implementation of the Recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) Report and Other Reforms'.
It is yet to be seen whether those instructions will stand when Norman's successor is appointed and what changes, if any, the new Overseas Territories Minister will implement to potentially affect the BVI.
