Lord Frost replaces Michael Gove as 'minister for Brexit Britain'

Boris Johnson has replaced Michael Gove with a staunch ally to lead post-Brexit talks with Brussels.

Lord Frost, who led negotiations over a Brexit trade deal, was made a Government minister and will now chair the two critical committees dealing with UK-EU relations.

With talks over Northern Ireland expected to intensify, multiple Whitehall sources said the switch was made because Mr Johnson wanted a harder stance with Brussels.

One Government minister told The Telegraph that the Prime Minister wanted a "punchier" approach to be adopted. An ally of Lord Frost said he is "a tougher negotiator" than Mr Gove.

Lord Frost will lead the negotiations over the customs setup in Northern Ireland, which has become a source of intense friction between the UK and EU since Brexit.

The shake-up sees the peer become both a Government minister in the Cabinet Office and also a full member of Mr Johnson's Cabinet.

The 55-year-old will lead talks with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission's vice-president, once he is in post on March 1 and will regularly answer questions in the House of Lords.

The two committees he will now chair are at the very centre of Britain's relationship with the EU now the UK is formally outside of the bloc.

The Withdrawal Agreement joint committee oversees issues relating to Britain's exit deal from the EU, most notably the Northern Ireland Protocol. The EU-UK Partnership Council deals with future relations on a wider basis.

Lord Frost – known as "Frosty" in Number 10 – had been made national security adviser after Brexit negotiations were done, but that appointment fell through amid concerns over his limited security background.

Both Lord Frost and allies of Mr Gove, who is also a minister in the Cabinet Office, moved to play down any suggestions of a rift.

Lord Frost tweeted that he was "hugely honoured" to take the role and said: "I stand on the shoulders of giants, and particularly those of Michael Gove who did an extraordinary job for this country in talks with [the] EU over the past year."

A Gove ally claimed that Mr Gove had always wanted Lord Frost to eventually lead the negotiations. He was leading one of the committees only on a temporary basis.

However, murmurings of discontent in Number 10 over how Mr Gove had been handling tensions with Brussels about the post-Brexit setup in Northern Ireland could be heard on Wednesday night.

One well-placed Government insider said that Lord Frost had been put in place because he would be firmer with Brussels, adding: "Frosty by nature has a tougher attitude. He is more Brexity. The PM wants him to be leading on this. To do that he needs to be the minister."

It was decided that both committees could only be chaired by a Government minister, hence Lord Frost's new role change.

The same source said Lord Frost had recently not attended a lengthy one-on-one meeting between Mr Gove and Mr Sefcovic, effectively being locked out of critical talks.

"Michael and Sefcovic met recently. It was a two-hour one-on-one and Frosty wasn't involved," the source said.

Reacting to the appointment, a senior Tory source said: "Finally Gove has been shunted. There's been a row building over who should be responsible for all the stuff on Europe. Gove's been clinging on to it all even though Frost always thought he was going to be running it. Frost is far more radical than Gove."

One member of the Gove inner circle pointed the finger at Lord Frost, suggesting he had been "grumbling" over Mr Gove leading the Brussels brief.

The change will free Mr Gove, still one of Mr Johnson's most trusted ministers, to continue to play a central role in the Covid-19 response as well as strengthening the Union. The switch will not happen until March, with Mr Gove meeting Mr Sefcovic on Wednesday to discuss tensions in the post-Brexit set-up in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Protocol attempts to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland by carrying out customs checks when goods cross the Irish Sea from mainland UK.

A senior Number 10 official said of Lord Frost’s new role: "What the PM is calling it internally is minister for Brexit Britain – it's about making the most of the opportunities of Brexit, and that's David’s brief."