The MP for North West Hampshire replaces James Cleverly who has been promoted to Foreign Secretary by the new prime minister.
After Boris Johnson’s resignation in July, Malthouse was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet Office.
Malthouse was minister of state in the Home Office and Ministry of Justice for more than two years between 2020 and 2022.
Previous positions in government include the minister in charge of crime, policing and the fire service in the Home Office from 2019 to 2020. Before that he was minister for housing between 2018 and 2019.
He was a junior minister with responsibility for family support, housing and child maintenance at the Department of Work and Pensions for six months in 2018.
Malthouse is the fifth education secretary in a year. Cleverly held the post for less than two months from July, following Michelle Donelan, who was in the job less than 36 hours before resigning in the wake of the scandal engulfing the government. Prior to that Nadhim Zahawi was in post, and before that Gavin Williamson who was sacked last September.
Biography
Malthouse was born in Liverpool and trained as a chartered accountant before entering politics.
Before becoming an MP, he served as a councillor on Westminster Council from 1998 to 2006 and was a member of the London Assembly from 2008 to 2016.
When he was mayor of London, Johnson made him deputy mayor for policing from 2008 to 2012. He was subsequently deputy mayor for business and enterprise from 2012 to 2015.
Before entering politics, he was a chartered accountant and set up a finance company, which he now chairs.
He attended Sudley County Primary school and then Liverpool College – at the time an independent school, now an academy – before studying Politics and Economics at Newcastle University.
He is married with three children.