Law change to allow maternity leave for Attorney General Suella Braverman

The government is to change the law so that the Attorney General can take six months' maternity leave.

Suella Braverman, the government's chief law officer, announced in November she was expecting her second child "early next year".

She is believed to be the most senior government minister to give birth in office.

Under current laws, she would have to resign if she wanted to take time off following the birth.

The government will bring the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Bill before MPs later on Thursday.

The bill will formalise a process for taking maternity leave that until now has been granted at the discretion of the prime minister.

It is understood it will also align the rules on maternity pay for cabinet ministers with more junior government roles.

It would allow Ms Braverman to take six months' leave on full pay - in line with the civil service and Armed Forces.

Several female politicians serving as junior ministers have taken maternity leave in the past, including Conservative MPs Tracey Crouch and Kemi Badenoch.

The government has confirmed it intends to pass all stages of the the bill in the Commons next week. It will also have to be approved by the House of Lords.

Ms Braverman, the Conservative MP for Fareham, became the second-ever woman to be appointed attorney general for England and Wales in February 2020.

She had previously served as a junior Brexit minister under Theresa May, before resigning in November 2018 in protest at the former PM's Brexit plans.

She went on to take maternity leave whilst serving as a backbench MP after the birth of her first child in July 2019, with a "proxy MP" taking part in parliamentary debates and votes on her behalf.