Who is Boris' new International Development Secretary?

Alok Sharma is the International Development Secretary in Boris Johnson's new panel. The former accountant in the marginal seat of Reading West, was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum. Even so, he was one of the foremost supporters of Johnson in the recent Conservative leadership election.

Born in Agra, UP, Sharma moved to Reading, Berkshire in England when he was five. He did his Bachelors in Physics with electronics and later qualified to be a chartered accountant.

In 2010, he won the Reading West MP seat and served as a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee between 2010 and 2011.

Later, between September 2014 and March 2015, he was a member of the Treasury Select Committee, and during that time, he was critical of the banks for mis-selling products to customers.

Sharma was the Conservative Party's Vice-Chairman from 2012 to 2015 and in 2014 served as the co-chairman of the Conservative Friends of India.

Sharma has held various other junior ministerial roles -- employment minister in the Department of Work and Pensions, housing minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government, and minister for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) -- in Theresa May's government. He campaigned extensively to remain in the referendum.

According to reports, he is tipped for promotion despite his support for HS2 (High Speed 2 - a planned high-speed railway in the UK) and Heathrow Airport expansion, which the new prime minister is sceptical about.