Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirms Ministerial line-up, but fails to resolve naming riddle

'However you want to pronounce our name, we’ll be making sure we live up to it'

The newly minted Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNeZ) has confirmed its full ministerial line up, as it welcomed a number of junior ministers to the new department's ranks.

The department was created last week as part of a reshuffle that saw Prime Minister Rishi Sunak break the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) into three new departments in the form of the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and DESNeZ.

Former Business Secretary Grant Shapps was confirmed as the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, while BEIS' Energy and Climate Ministers Graham Stuart and Lord Callanan were also moved over to the new department.

Number 10 also confirmed Andrew Bowie and Amanda Solloway have been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State at the new department.

Bowie was moved from his role as a junior minister the Department for International Trade, while Solloway is returning to government having previously served as a government whip and a junior minister at the Home Office, Foreign Office, and BEIS under Boris Johnson.

DESNeZ welcomed the new ministers to the department this weekend, although official responsibilities are yet to be assigned according to the department's website.

The department is also yet to clarify how it should be referred to with a social media post over the weekend declining to resolve the debate over how the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero should be abbreviated and pronounced.

"ESNZ, E.S.N.Z., DeSense, Di'sens - however you want to pronounce our name, we'll be making sure we live up to," the video stated. "That means ensuring the security of the UK's energy supply this winter and in winters to come with a  big focus on bringing down energy bills and it means seizing the opportunities for green jobs and growth, while meeting our commitments to net zero."

* This article was originally published here