Chris Skidmore returns to UK IP minister post

Chris Skidmore looks likely to resume his role as the UK IP minister, following Jo Johnson’s announcement last week that he will resign from government.

Skidmore made the announcement on Twitter yesterday, September 10, when he posted a picture of a lab coat bearing his name and the title “minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation”, a position which the role of IP minister falls under.

Accompanying the picture, Skidmore said he had “better dust of the lab coat”.

The news was confirmed by the UK Intellectual Property Office in an update yesterday.

It would be his second time in the role, after previously being appointed in December 2018.

But, following a reshuffle of ministers by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his brother Jo Johnson took up the position in late July.

It was also Johnson’s second time in the post after he previously resigned due to a disagreement with former prime minister Theresa May’s position over Brexit.

But on Thursday, September 5, Jo Johnson posted to his Twitter that he would be resigning, as he was “torn between family loyalty and the national interest”.

“It’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister,” he said.

The Johnson brothers have also disagreed over Brexit, currently the most divisive question in British politics.

Unlike his older brother, Jo Johnson campaigned for a vote for the UK to remain in the EU and has been a critic of the Vote Leave campaign in which his brother was a leading figure.

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