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Peter Hain MP

For the first time, three Sussex alumni are members of the Cabinet, following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's reshuffle on 5 June. 

Peter Hain, Hilary Benn and Ben Bradshaw, who all studied at Sussex, join 18 other ministers in being appointed to the top jobs in Government. 

Peter Hain MP, who was the first Sussex graduate to enter the Cabinet when he was made Secretary of State for Wales in 2002, returns to the same post after resigning in January 2008. He first rose to prominence as part of the anti-apartheid movement's high-profile protest against the South African rugby tour in 1970. He completed an MPhil in Politics at Sussex in 1980. His younger son is also a Sussex graduate.

Hilary Benn MP graduated from Sussex in 1974 with a BA in Russian. He became the second Sussex graduate to enter the Cabinet when he was made Secretary of State at the Department for International Development in 2003. He became Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in June 2007 and will continue in this role in the current Cabinet. 

Ben Bradshaw MP, who has been appointed to the role of Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has become the latest Sussex graduate to be a Cabinet minister. One of the first openly gay MPs when elected in 1997, Mr Bradshaw graduated from Sussex in 1982 with a degree in German. 

There are currently 10 Sussex graduates who are MPs. The others are Tony Baldry (Banbury), Roger Berry (Kingswood), Michael Fabricant (Lichfield), Andrew George (St Ives), David Lepper (Brighton Pavilion), Dan Norris (Wansdyke), and Martin Salter (Reading West).