Sir David Norris has been sworn in as lord chancellor, becoming the third politician to hold the office within the space of two years, The Law Society Gazette reports.

The swearing-in marks another change of leadership at the top of the Ministry of Justice, a department that has now changed hands three times since 2023. The lord chancellor is the government's senior legal officer in England and Wales, with responsibility for the courts, the legal aid budget and the functioning of the justice system, and also serves as Secretary of State for Justice.

The frequency of the turnover will draw attention from practitioners. Each change at the top of the department typically brings a reset in ministerial priorities, and the arrival of a new lord chancellor means fresh engagement for the Law Society, the Bar Council and other representative bodies, which must brief an incoming officeholder on outstanding issues across the profession.

The Law Society Gazette, the official publication of the Law Society of England and Wales, reported the swearing-in without indicating the timing of any subsequent parliamentary business or the new lord chancellor's immediate policy agenda. No statement from the incoming officeholder accompanied the report.

Succession at the lord chancellor's office has been unusually rapid in the current parliament. The tenure of each of the two previous officeholders ended amid broader political reshuffles rather than justice-specific controversies, and the department's core programmes — including courts recovery, legal aid reform and prison capacity — have continued across the transitions.

For solicitors and barristers in England and Wales, the immediate practical effect is limited: the office changes, but the machinery of the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service continues to operate under permanent officials. The profession's representative bodies will, however, be seeking early meetings with the new lord chancellor to press long-standing concerns, including the sustainability of criminal defence practice, legal aid rates and court delays.

Global Law Wire will report further details of the new lord chancellor's priorities as they emerge.

This item is based on limited source material. Additional facts were not available at the time of publication.