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New under-secretaries of state for health appointed

Two new ministers have been appointed to the Department of Health following the general election.
Jackie Doyle-Price

Two new ministers have been appointed to the Department of Health following the general election.

Conservative MP for Thurrock Jackie Doyle-Price and her colleague Steve Brine – who represents Winchester – have both become under-secretaries of state for health.

Ms Doyle-Price is a former advisor to the City of London Corporation and in 2010 was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee.


Thurrock MP Jackie-Doyle Price has been appointed under-secretary of state for health
Picture: Getty

Ex-BBC presenter 

Former BBC radio presenter and PR man Mr Brine was parliamentary private secretary to minister for disabled people Mike Penning in the Department for Work and Pensions.


Winchester MP Steve Brine joins Ms Doyle-Brice as under-secretary of state for health
 Picture: Shutterstock

He became parliamentary private secretary to health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2015 and joined the Health and Social Care Public Bill Committee in 2010.

The two new ministers record on health matters include:

Ms Doyle-Price

  • Voted against smoking bans and allowing assisted suicide for terminally-ill people.
  • Expressed concerns around patient experience and safety in the NHS.
  • Led a backbench business debate in 2014 on hospital car parking charges, arguing ‘hospital car parking charges are a tax on NHS treatment’.

Mr Brine

  • Listed health among his priorities and has regularly spoken in support of local general hospitals, child and adolescent mental health services and the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership in Hampshire.
  • Asked a number of written and oral questions on health covering subjects including medical records, midwife recruitment, breast cancer, stem cells and NHS procurement.
  • Called for parity of esteem for mental health and support for primary care services.

Widely tipped

The new arrivals replace former under-secretaries Nicola Blackwood and David Mowat, who were appointed last year, but lost their respective seats at the election.

Their exact areas of responsibility have yet to be confirmed but Mr Brine is widely tipped to take on care services.


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