Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and a former rival in the Democratic presidential primaries, as his secretary of commerce in the first high-profile appointment of a Latino to his administration.

Mr Richardson, who will probably have the longest resumé of any in Mr Obama’s cabinet having served as Bill Clinton’s energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations, had originally been tipped as a possible secretary of state – the position that will now be filled by Hillary Clinton, another former rival.