Published: July 22, 2026 at 10:08 am
A day after Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, one of his headline decisions was to fold the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology into an expanded Department for Business and Trade.
The new department, which will be known as the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology, will be led by former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
In another sign that Burnham is keen to bring technology into mainstream decision-making, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan will be given a seat in the Cabinet, with his role straddling both the Cabinet Office and DBIST.
Narayan’s responsibilities within Sir Keir Starmer’s former government spanned AI opportunities, the AI Security Institute, semiconductors and online safety.
“AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things,” Narayan wrote on X. “The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.”
However the scrapping of DSIT as a standalone entity means there is no longer a dedicated technology secretary after Liz Kendall was ousted by the new administration; and ‘digital’ has returned to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which has been rebranded to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Trade body techUK and the Startup Coalition called this “the wrong change at the wrong time”.
What did figures from technology and business make of the changes?