Truss hires former energy exec as new business liaison head

Liz Truss has hired former EDF Energy executive Michael Stott as new head of business liaison for Downing Street.

Stott is to become Truss’s key leader of business relations and engagement strategy, Sky News learned today. He is replacing Alex Hickman who held the role for two years under Boris Johnson.

The newest business figure in Number 10 has previously worked as a Conservative Party press officer and for several public affairs firms including Lansons, Luther Pendragon and Hill & Knowlton.

Stott has already been holding meetings with private sector executives over the past week.

This comes as the Prime Minister sets out to boost the UK economy with an overhaul of regulation, dubbed ‘Big Bang 2.0’ by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

Kwarteng will deliver a mini-Budget this Friday, in which he is expected to announce tax cuts with an estimated cost of over £30bn.

Truss has refused to rule out scrapping the EU-imposed cap on bankers’ bonuses, and said she was willing to make other decisions which may be “unpopular”.