Britain is nominating former minister Liam Fox to be the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, the government has announced.
Dr Fox, who famously said the still elusive Brexit trade deal with the EU would be the “easiest in history”, would replace Roberto Azevêdo for an initial term of four years if elected.
“As the world seeks to recover from the shared challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic, the role of free and fair trade has never been more crucial,” Boris Johnson said in a letter to the WTO.
Download the new Independent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
“Dr Fox is a passionate advocate of multilateralism, who brings detailed knowledge of the global trading system from his years as a UK Cabinet Minister and Secretary of State for International Trade.
“He has first-hand experience of the political and technical challenges of negotiating trade agreements, and the reforms that are needed to ensure the global trading system truly delivers for all WTO members.”
Dr Fox hails from the right wing of the Conservative party and was previously Secretary of State for International Trade before he was replaced by Liz Truss. He is also a former Defence Secretary and chairman of the Conservative party.
The director-general of the WTO has little actual power over policy matters, but the job oversees a large secretariat of staff.
Liz Truss, the UK;s current International Trade Secretary, said: “The new WTO Director General needs to be a fierce champion of free and fair trade, an advocate of multilateralism, and be able to get things done and increase the pace of reform. Dr Liam Fox brings all those things to the table.
“He has experience making tough political decisions as a former UK Trade Secretary, is committed to the fundamental principle of free and fair trade and has excellent relationships with WTO members around the world. He is the ideal candidate to lead the WTO into a new era and help push forward much-needed modernisation of the organisation.”
Dr Fox himself said he was “honoured to have been nominated by the prime minister” and said his priorities would be “Update. Strengthen and Reform.”
The latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox
“We must ensure that global trade works for everyone,” he added, stating that “Trade is a way in which we spread prosperity more widely. That prosperity underpins social cohesion, that social cohesion in turns underpins political stability and that political stability is the building block of our collective security.”
1/50 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
2/50 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
3/50 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
4/50 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
5/50 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
6/50 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
7/50 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
8/50 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
9/50 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
10/50 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
11/50 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
12/50 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
13/50 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
14/50 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
15/50 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
16/50 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
17/50 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
18/50 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
19/50 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
20/50 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
21/50 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
22/50 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
23/50 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
24/50 14 June 2020
People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
25/50 13 June 2020
Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
26/50 12 June 2020
A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
27/50 11 June 2020
A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
28/50 10 June 2020
A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
29/50 9 June 2020
Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
30/50 8 June 2020
People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
31/50 7 June 2020
A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
32/50 6 June 2020
Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
33/50 5 June 2020
A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
34/50 4 June 2020
Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
35/50 3 June 2020
A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
36/50 2 June 2020
Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
37/50 1 June 2020
Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
38/50 31 May 2020
A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
39/50 30 May 2020
Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
40/50 29 May 2020
A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
41/50 28 May 2020
Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
42/50 27 May 2020
Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
43/50 26 May 2020
Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
44/50 25 May 2020
The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
45/50 24 May 2020
Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
46/50 23 May 2020
Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
47/50 22 May 2020
Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
48/50 21 May 2020
Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: “Get out Bolsonaro” during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro’s impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
AP
49/50 20 May 2020
People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea
Yonhap/AP
50/50 19 May 2020
Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany
dpa via AP
1/50 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
2/50 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
3/50 5 July 2020
People wearing protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus sit at a bus stop in the city of Zanjan, Iran
AP
4/50 4 July 2020
Protesters blocking an exit to the precinct of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, cover their ears anticipating the use of flash-bang grenades by police in Aurora, Colorado
Reuters
5/50 3 July 2020
A member of the Israeli border police jumps during a Palestinian protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, in Kafr Qaddum near Nablus
Reuters
6/50 2 July 2020
A surfer jumps clear of his board while enjoying winter waves at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch, New Zealand
AP
7/50 1 July 2020
A man is detained by riot police during a demonstration in Hong Kong. China imposed a new national security law which has faced international condemnation
Getty
8/50 30 June 2020
A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health workers in France
AFP via Getty
9/50 29 June 2020
Lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party scuffle with people from the main opposition Kuomintang party, who have been occupying the Legislature Yuan, in Taipei
Reuters
10/50 28 June 2020
Protester holds crosses during a demonstration in honour of the victims of coronavirus in front of Brazil’s National Congress
Getty
11/50 27 June 2020
A demonstrator wearing a face mask holds a sign during a protest against police brutality and racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the Victory column in Berlin
Reuters
12/50 26 June 2020
Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
13/50 25 June 2020
A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
14/50 24 June 2020
A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
15/50 23 June 2020
Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
16/50 22 June 2020
A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
17/50 21 June 2020
Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
18/50 20 June 2020
National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
19/50 19 June 2020
Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
20/50 18 June 2020
Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
21/50 17 June 2020
Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
22/50 16 June 2020
Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
23/50 15 June 2020
Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
24/50 14 June 2020
People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
25/50 13 June 2020
Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
26/50 12 June 2020
A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
27/50 11 June 2020
A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
28/50 10 June 2020
A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
29/50 9 June 2020
Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
30/50 8 June 2020
People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
31/50 7 June 2020
A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
32/50 6 June 2020
Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
33/50 5 June 2020
A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
34/50 4 June 2020
Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
35/50 3 June 2020
A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
36/50 2 June 2020
Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
37/50 1 June 2020
Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
38/50 31 May 2020
A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
39/50 30 May 2020
Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
40/50 29 May 2020
A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
41/50 28 May 2020
Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
42/50 27 May 2020
Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
43/50 26 May 2020
Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
44/50 25 May 2020
The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
45/50 24 May 2020
Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
46/50 23 May 2020
Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
47/50 22 May 2020
Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
48/50 21 May 2020
Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: “Get out Bolsonaro” during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro’s impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
AP
49/50 20 May 2020
People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea
Yonhap/AP
50/50 19 May 2020
Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany
dpa via AP
Asked about the proposal, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The PM will be writing to the WTO today and he will say that Dr Fox is a passionate advocate of multilateralism who brings detailed knowledge of the global trading system from his years as a UK Cabinet minister and secretary of state for international trade.
“He has first-hand experience of the political and technical challenges of negotiating trade agreements and the reforms that are needed to ensure the global trading system truly delivers for all WTO members.
“Dr Fox will be supported by a cross-Government team.”
Pressed on whether being a Brexiteer is now a necessary qualification for senior appointments, the spokesman said: “No.”
