Sarah Jones has been appointed as construction minister, Construction News understands.
The MP for Croydon West was appointed as minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Monday (8 July).
CN understands the Construction Leadership Council was briefed this week that Jones will take on the construction portfolio.
The DBT has not yet officially confirmed the appointment. A spokesperson said ministerial briefs would be announced in due course.
Jones becomes the 26th person to hold the construction brief this century.
She served as shadow housing minister between 2018 and 2020, and has been an outspoken advocate for building safety, using her first speech in parliament to call for tower blocks to be fitted with sprinklers.
Jones later successfully proposed amendments to the 2021 Fire Safety Act to implement recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry’s phase one report.
She has also served as shadow minister for industry and decarbonisation, as well as for police and the fire service.
Before entering politics, Jones was head of campaigns at housing charity Shelter, before helping deliver the 2012 Olympic Games as a senior civil servant.
Meanwhile, the government has given its chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, a portfolio that includes housing and planning; capital investment; transport policy; and infrastructure spending.
The last construction minister, Alan Mak, only spent a month in post before the election was called, having been parachuted in after his predecessor, Nusrat Ghani, was ousted in a surprise reshuffle.
Source : ConstructionNews