Mark Reckless is Ukip’s new economics spokesperson
Conservative defector and Ukip MP Mark Reckless is back on the scene – this time as a mouthpiece for Ukip's economic policies.
Reckless, who lost his seat in Rochester and Strood to the Tories in the General Election, replaces MEP Patrick O'Flynn as economics spokesperson.
O'Flynn resigned from the post in May. At the time, he apologised for describing the party's leader Nigel Farage as "snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive" after an intra-party dispute over the General Election.
Earlier he'd lifted the lid on Ukip's economic agenda, telling City PM that they had more of a plan than chancellor George Osborne for cutting Britain's huge deficit.
Read more: Ukip-onomics: Slash aid, scrap HS2, raise taxes – Patrick O’Flynn discusses the credible manifesto
"I am delighted to take up the economics role for the party," Reckless said.
"It is an exciting time with the European referendum now firmly on the horizon. One of the most important roles in that campaign will be to show to the British public the economic opportunities and advantages for British business and the wider economy when we leave the European Union."
As part of the reshuffle, deputy treasurer Christopher Mills is now business spokesperson, with Nathan Gill given the international development role, and Julia Reid as spokesperson for science.