Nicky Morgan will remain in Boris Johnson’s cabinet as culture secretary – despite stepping down as MP

Boris Johnson hands the senior Conservative a life peerage to serve party from Lords

Nicky Morgan will remain in Boris Johnson’s cabinet as the culture secretary despite stepping down as an MP at the general election.

No 10 confirmed the senior Conservative will be given a peerage and serve the party from the House of Lords.

“The Queen has been pleased to signify her intention of conferring a peerage of the United Kingdom for life on Nicky Morgan,” Downing Street said.

Ms Morgan, who defended the government during the general election on multiple occasions, has served in the role since Mr Johnson took office in July.

The surprise move came as part of a mini-reshuffle by the prime minister in the wake of his resounding victory at the general election.

Mr Johnson is not expected to carry out any significant cabinet reshuffle until after the UK formally leaves the European Union by the deadline of 31 January 2020.

Downing Street also announced Simon Hart has been appointed the new secretary of state for Wales – after Alun Cairns, who was forced to stand down over his links to an aide accused of sabotaging a rape trial.

Announcing her decision to quit the Commons after MPs voted in favour of a snap general election, Ms Morgan cited the “abuse for doing the job of a modern MP” as part of the reason she was stepping aside.

Ms Morgan, who had also previously served as education secretary under David Cameron before being sacked by his successor, Theresa May, however, made clear in October she was not standing down as an MP “for any reasons of disagreement with the prime minister or the direction of the government at all”.

She has since defended the government’s record, and was grilled during a television interview during the election campaign over the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to add 50,000 “more nurses” to the NHS in the next five years.

Responding to her reappointment, Labour MP Chris Bryant, a former shadow culture secretary, tweeted: “It stinks. You abandon your constituents, eschew the tough work of representing a constituency but remain in the cabinet. That really is two fingers up to democracy.”

SNP leader and Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said: “No need to do anything as mundane as stand for and win an election to be in this Tory government – they have a nerve to call it democracy.”