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UK names Claire Coutinho as Secretary for Energy Security

In her new role, her department is tasked with overseeing the UK's response to climate change.

Indian-origin Claire Coutinho was named Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, succeeding Grant Shapps, who was appointed defense minister following a cabinet reshuffle by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Countinho, whowas elected as a Member of Parliament for East Surrey in December  2019, is the first from that year's cohort to be promoted to the cabinet. She previously served as a junior minister in the education department, where her responsibilities included children, families, and wellbeing.

The 38-year-old assumed the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education. Earlier she served as the Under Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Following her education at Exeter College, Oxford University, Claire Coutinho embarked on a career path that included employment with investment bank Merrill Lynch. She also worked with influential right-leaning think tank the Centre for Social Justice, as well as the Housing and Finance Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to enhancing house-building efforts.

In her new role, her department is tasked with overseeing the UK's response to climate change. This includes the critical responsibility of ensuring that the UK achieves its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the year 2050.

According to reports, the MP is of Goan heritage like Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Her parents arrived in the UK in the 1970s.

 

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