Former Macfarlanes lawyer David Gauke MP has been appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in today's (8 January) cabinet reshuffle.

Gauke replaces David Lidington MP, who will take up the role of Minister for the Cabinet Office after serving for just six months in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Prior to taking the role, Gauke was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and before this was a Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Gauke was at Macfarlanes from 1999 to 2005 and was part of the firm's financial services group. Prior to that, he was a trainee at Richards Butler – now Reed Smith. He studied law at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and the College of Law in Chester.

In 2005, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire South West. He supported remain in the referendum on membership of the European Union.

Gauke is the sixth Conservative Secretary of State for Justice since 2010 and the third since Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016. Prior to Lidington, Liz Truss MP held the position for just under a year after Michael Gove MP was removed from the role in May's first cabinet reshuffle.

Current Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling held the role between September 2012 and May 2015, making him the longest-serving justice secretary in recent years.