Simmonds keeps job but gets new boss

(CNS): The overseas territories minister has survived the UK Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle but he will be dealing with a new boss following the resignation of the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, from the front bench. Hague is retiring from politics at the next election and will now sit on the backbenches for his last year in office as leader of the Commons. Mark Simmonds will now be working under Phillip Hammond the new head of the Foreign Office, who is considered a Eurosceptic and will represent the UK on the world stage untilthe British elections next year.

The MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, Kent, Hammond is likely to focus his overseas efforts close to home renegotiating the UK government’s relationship with Europe. Hammond is the second richest member in Cabinet with a net worth of £8.2 million, just under Lord Strathclyde's £9.6 million.