Andrea Leadsom has been appointed Environment Secretary. Photo DECC CC-BY-ND-2.0

A prominent Brexit campaigner and failed Conservative party leadership candidate has been appointed Environment Secretary.

Andrea Leadsom has been put in charge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by the new Prime Minister Theresa May.

She replaces Liz Truss who steps into Michael Gove’s shoes as Justice Secretary.

Ms Leadsom will head the department responsible for England’s national parks and policy affecting the outdoors, including access rights and the completion of the England Coast Path. It also oversees Natural England, the advisory body for the outdoors.

The new Secretary of State withdrew from the shortlist of two contenders to lead the Tories, following her comments that being a mother gave her a ‘very real stake’ in the future. Her rival Ms May is childless.

Ms Leadsom previously held ministerial posts in the Treasury and Department of Energy and Climate Change. She graduated in political science from the University of Warwick.