Stephen Barclay: Who is the new Brexit secretary?

Stephen Barclay has been appointed as the new Brexit secretary, it has been confirmed.

The former health minister is set to replace Dominic Raab, who resigned his position as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on Thursday over Theresa May's draft Brexit deal.

Mrs May herself will personally oversee the last 10 days of negotiations with the EU on the future relationship, while Mr Barclay will focus on the "domestic readiness for Brexit and getting Mrs May's draft withdrawal agreement through parliament."

The announcement that the little-known Mr Barclay was promoted to handle Brexit going forward came just hours after Michael Gove offered the Prime Minister a lifeline by staying on in his Cabinet role.

So here's everything you need to know about the new Brexit secretary.

Who is Stephen Barclay?

Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, Stephen Barclay, 46, is a firm Brexit-supporter who had been a junior minister in the health department.

He has also served as City minister from June 2017 to January 2018.

And he served as a Government whip from July 2016 to June 2017.

Mr Barclay and his wife, Karen have a son and two daughters - his father was a trade union official, and his mother worked in the civil service.

The youngest of three brothers, he came from the first generation of his family to go to university.

He attended the Sandhurst military academy, Cambridge University and spent five months in the Second Lieutenant with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

He qualified as a solicitor before working for the financial regulator, and lead Barclays Bank's anti-money laundering and sanctions department.

Picked for David Cameron's "A-list" of favoured candidates, he finally won the seat of North East Cambridgeshire in the 2010 general election having twice stood unsuccessfully parliament.

Despite his record as a government loyalist he had to wait until after the following election in 2015 before he made it to the ministerial ranks as a junior whip.

Instead he spent the coalition years building a reputation as a tough and effective interrogator of officials as a member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

Key points about his career

Mr Barclay has served as a junior health minister since January and was previously the City minister, and also as the economic secretary to Chancellor Philip Hammond.

His voting record shows he has generally supported equal gay rights and welfare cuts.

He supported the wars in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, and was against an investigation into the Iraq war.

During the EU referendum in 2016, he supported the official Vote Leave campaign, after ministers were given the freedom to campaign for either side.

Following the 2017 election he was finally promoted out of the whips office by Mrs May who made him her new City minister.

His financial background made him an obvious choice at a time when foreign competitors were looking to take advantage of Brexit to take away business from the Square Mile.

Nevertheless, he served only six months in the Treasury before he was promoted again to minister of state at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Why do we still need a Brexit Secretary?

Theresa May has reduced the role of the Brexit Secretary and said she will in future take sole control of negotiations on EU withdrawal.

This means Mr Barclay's job will be limited to the domestic delivery of EU withdrawal, preparations for Brexit either with or without a deal and shepherding legislation through Parliament.