Unelected bureaucrat drafted in to manage UK’s relationship with EU

Boris Johnson has drafted in an unelected bureaucrat to manage the UK’s new relationship with a union which was commonly described as being “governed by unelected bureaucrats” by opponents.

Lord David Frost will seek to maximise post-Brexit trading opportunities when he becomes a full cabinet member next month, Downing Street said.

He will also replace Michael Gove as co-chair of a committee on implementing the Brexit withdrawal deal.

Mr Gove will keep his seat at the cabinet table.

But the appointment has raised eyebrows on the opposition benches, with Labour’s shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry tweeting: “So we’ve finally got one minister taking a grip of the problems with our post-Brexit trading relationships with Europe.

“Someone who has never been elected by anyone in this country, and won’t be accountable in the House of Commons to any of us who have.”

Others have also taken a dim view of the situation. Here’s some of the early reaction:

I thought it would be a good laugh to make unelected bureaucrat, Lord Frost, responsible for our relationship with the EU.

— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) February 17, 2021