Stephen Barclay has been appointed as the new Brexit secretary – but the job has been downgraded to a “domestic” role, Downing Street has confirmed.
A No 10 spokesman said that Barclay, who backed leaving the EU, will focus on how prepared the UK is for exiting the bloc, while the prime minister takes charge of the “endgame” negotiations with EU leaders.
Barclay said he was “delighted” to be accept the role of Brexit secretary.
“We now need to keep up the momentum and finalise the Withdrawal Agreement,” he wrote on Twitter.
The shift is likely to rile Brexiteers who are demanding changes to the draft Withdrawal Agreement published on Thursday.
Kwasi Kwarteng, formerly parliamentary private secretary to Chancellor Philip Hammond, will be promoted to Brexit minister.
Barclay replaces Dominic Raab, who resigned on Thursday in protest of Theresa May’s draft deal.
It comes as backbench MPs were submitting letters to the party’s 1922 committee demanding a no confidence in the prime minister.
Barclay, the MP for North East Cambridgeshire, will be expected to sell the deal to UK businesses, voters and skeptical MPs who will play a key role in getting legislation through parliament.
Previously, Barclay was a Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care and was an Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
He also served as a whip under David Cameron.
During the final days of talks, May is hoping to flesh out the political declaration on the UK-EU future relationship – something she hopes will make a final Brexit deal more palatable to MPs, a majority of whom look set to vote it down when it comes before Parliament later this year.
The Withdrawal Agreement, which includes the controversial Northern Ireland backstop customs arrangement, would not be on the table during the remaining talks.
The No 10 spokesman said: “[Stephen Barclay] will be dealing with the domestic preparedness for Brexit. In terms of the negotiations, we are in the endgame now with ten days left, the prime minister will be doing those negotiations.”
MPs will vote on the Brexit deal in early December, before a European Council summit is due to take place on December 13 in Brussels.
Barclay, a qualified solicitor, held numerous roles in business before becoming an MP, including legal work for Axa Insurance, as a regulator for the Financial Services Authority and within the anti-money laundering department of Barclays Bank.
The announcement was made just shortly after it was revealed Amber Rudd had been appointed Work and Pensions Secretary.
Stephen Hammond replaces Barclay as health and social care minister and John Penrose will become Northern Ireland minister.
Reacting to the news shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said: “Stephen Barclay’s appointment changes absolutely nothing.
“After two years of negotiation, the Prime Minister has failed to deliver a Brexit deal that can command the support of Parliament. A new face in the Brexit department will do nothing to bring this divided Government back together.”