Lucy Frazer stepping down as housing minister
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle means Lucy Frazer will step down as Housing Minister after just 97 days in office.
Frazer is now going to take on the Culture, Media and Sport department, leaving the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities department set to take its fifth housing minister within a year.
This means her successor will become the UK’s 15th housing minister since the Tories came to power in 2010 which has left the industry frustrated by a lack of consistency.
Ms Frazer was named minister of state for housing by Sunak on October 26th, taking over from Lee Rowley who worked under former prime minister Liz Truss.
During her tenure, the MP for South East Cambridgeshire helped the department to introduce the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and publish guidance on the Right to Shared Ownership scheme.
Housing correspondent for iNews shared the housing sector’s reaction to the news: ‘Departing housing minister Lucy Fraser is a landlord. Disappointment amongst this group who felt she listened to their concerns about reforming private renting to “rebalance power” in favour of renters.’
The government is yet to announce who the next housing minister will be, but several new appointments have been reported today.
New departments have also been formed, with former business secretary Grant Shapps becoming the minister for energy security and net zero and former culture secretary Michelle Donelan the new minister for science, innovation and technology.
Kemi Badenoch has also been appointed the next secretary of stets for business and trade, while maintain her role as women and equalities minister, and Greg Hands is the new Conservative party chair.
Photo by Luke Thornton