You can be forgiven for suffering a bout of post-election fatigue and missing the appointment of David Lidington as Theresa May`s new Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. The unpopular Liz Truss (at least to many people in the legal world) lasted less than 12 months in the role and has now been shunted off to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
As for David Lidington, he`s been MP for Aylesbury since 1992 and was Leader of the House of Commons from July 2016. Prior to that he served as Minister for Europe for 6 years under David Cameron, and actively campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU. Like his predecessor Mr Lidington has no legal background.
Some of Mr Lidington`s previous outspoken views are already causing disquiet with the public. He has consistently voted against extending gay rights, opposes same-sex marriages and child adoption, has voted for restricting the scope of legal aid, and only last year voted in favour of repealing the Human Rights Act.
On a lighter note David Lidington was captain of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge`s winning team in the 1979 series of University Challenge, as well as winning the Champion of Champions series to celebrate the show`s 40th anniversary in 2002.
