Michelle Donelan, the UK’s first tech secretary, was among the Conservative cabinet ministers defeated in Thursday’s Labour landslide general election result.
Donelan – who was appointed as the first secretary of state for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in 2023 – was beaten in the newly formed Melksham and Devizes constituency by Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Mathew.
The former tech secretary secured 17,630 votes, losing out to the first-time MP who won 20,031 votes.
Other members of the Tory tech team fared somewhat better than Donelan, with tech ministers Saqib Bhatti and Andrew Griffith holding on to their parliamentary seats.
Donelan is set to be replaced as tech minister by Labour’s Peter Kyle, who won 64.1% of the vote in his constituency of Hove and Portslade.
The remaining members of Labour’s shadow tech team – Chi Onwurah, Chris Evans and Matt Rodda – were all re-elected.
DSIT was established in February 2023 by Rishi Sunak to act as a dedicated department for the tech industry, with the previous brief being part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The formation of the department was welcomed by the tech industry and has since overseen numerous high-profile policy announcements.
Under Donelan, DSIT organised a £2.5bn quantum strategy, an international summit on AI safety, and helped pass the controversial Online Safety Act.
Donelan drew fierce criticism during her tenure as tech secretary after falsely accusing a UK Research and Innovation employee of supporting extremist views.
She went so far as to demand the researcher’s dismissal, before an investigation found no evidence supporting the allegation, forcing Donelan to share a letter of apology and pay thousands in tax-funded libel damages.
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