Alex Burghart MP has been appointed as the new Pensions Minister, following the departure of long-serving predecessor Guy Opperman MP.

Mr Opperman was relieved of his duties by new Prime Minister Liz Truss on 8 September.

Mr Burghart's appointment, with a new title of Minister for Pensions and Growth, is one of the first ministerial appointments to be confirmed by the King.

Mr Opperman had served as Pensions Minister since June 2017 and his five-year tenure made him one of the longest serving Pensions Ministers.

As Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions Mr Burghart’s responsibilities will be the same as his predecessor.

He has previous experience with the Department for Work and Pensions, having served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

He has previously served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education from 16 September 2021 to 6 July 2022.

He stepped down from his role at the Department for Education as part of an exodus of ministers from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government in July, saying that he could no longer serve him as a minister when he could not defend the decisions and mistakes that had been made.

He had initially supported Kemi Badenoch to replace Johnson as PM.

Mr Burghart has been an elected Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar since June 2017. He was also formerly a special adviser to Theresa May during her time as Prime Minister.

He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Boris Johnson during the first Johnson ministry in 2019 until September 2021.

Mr Burghart started his career in education, teaching history at Warwick School before becoming a history tutor at King’s College London.

He studied history at Christ Church College Oxford and completed a PhD at King’s College London. He has written extensively about early medieval England.

He was a member of the board of Yarlington Housing Group, was a governor at Queensmill School for children with autism, and has written for the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement and the Evening Standard.