BBC News 19 December 2021
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will replace Lord Frost as the UK's lead negotiator with the EU in post-Brexit talks.
She will retain her role as foreign minister alongside the new post leading negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
It follows the resignation of Lord Frost as Brexit minister on Saturday.
MP Chris Heaton-Harris will become minister of state for Europe, Downing Street said.
Conservative MPs are split over the departure of Lord Frost, who resigned citing "concerns about the current direction of travel" of the government.
The peer told Prime Minister Boris Johnson he had concerns over Covid policy, urging him to avoid introducing "coercive measures".
Some Tory backbench MPs who share Lord Frost's views described his exit as a "disaster".
But others in the party said it offered a chance to "press the reset button" in negotiations with the EU.
A monster brief
Liz Truss has a lot of jobs.
She's the foreign secretary, the minister for women and equalities, and now the lead negotiator with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This is a monster brief.
Particularly noteworthy therefore is the appointment of her deputy, Chris Heaton-Harris - a former MEP who supported Leave in 2016.
His presence may appease some Tory backbenchers who were particularly unhappy to see Lord Frost go.
But will Liz Truss approach negotiations with the EU like her predecessor?
It's early days but I've heard initial suggestions that there won't be a radical departure on policy.
However the UK's approach, pre-Truss, was already softening in certain areas. A source close to the foreign secretary said: "Liz and David are friends and come at things from the same direction but Liz will put her own stamp on it and do it the Liz Truss way."
But no matter how confident the foreign secretary may feel, she's inheriting a hard, and politically sensitive, task.
