Poppy Gustafsson stepped down as Britain’s Investment Minister on Friday after less than a year in the role. The Darktrace co-founder was brought into Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet last year to attract global investment to the UK.
Her exit comes just weeks before a major summit in Birmingham, where international business leaders are expected to hear the country’s investment pitch. The timing has raised questions inside government and the business world.
What Caused The Resignation?
According to Politico, Gustafsson had become frustrated with the slow pace of government work and the difficulty of getting decisions through. A UK lobbyist told the outlet that her team had stopped responding to engagement requests about a major investor around a week before she resigned. She was also absent from the GREAT Futures summit in London on Thursday, where ministers unveiled deals with a Saudi delegation.
Gustafsson’s appointment had been under scrutiny earlier this year after she was cvery quickly made a peer in the House of Lords. People had concerns about her involvement in two complex fraud cases and whether she had the right level of political experience. Still, she had an established reputation in business. She co-founded Darktrace, which was sold for £4.3bn to US private equity group Thoma Bravo, and she had previously been honoured with an OBE and later a CBE for her work in cybersecurity.
Former Investment Minister Dominic Johnson, a Conservative, called her resignation a “loss” and said she had deep knowledge of tech industries. But he also said it must have been hard for her to attract investors while the government’s policies were working against that goal.
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Who Is Taking Over The Job?
Jason Stockwood, vice chair of Grimsby Town football club and former Match.com boss, has been named as the new Investment Minister. He will leave his day-to-day club duties and take a peerage to join the House of Lords in order to serve in the post.
Stockwood grew up in a single-parent household and has described himself as a “council estate kid.” He co-owns Grimsby Town with Andrew Pettit, taking over the club in 2021. Under their leadership, the team famously knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup on penalties.
The new minister has also tried to move into politics before. Earlier this year he ran to be the first elected mayor of Greater Lincolnshire but lost heavily to Reform UK’s Dame Andrea Jenkyns. His appointment to government made it his biggest step into national politics so far.
Grimsby Town released a statement thanking Stockwood for his service and congratulating him on the national appointment. It praised his “passion, dedication and service to the Mariners.”
Gustafsson’s resignation is one of the many different changes in Prime Minister Starmer’s team. Angela Rayner, his deputy, quit after a probe found she failed to pay £40,000 in stamp duty on a flat in Hove. That then kicked off a reshuffle across government.
The investment summit in Birmingham will now be the first test of how quickly Stockwood can settle in and present Britain’s pitch to the world.
