Housing minister loses cabinet status
The housing minister appears to have lost the right to attend cabinet meetings.
A list of senior ministers who attend cabinet meetings alongside the secretaries of state was published last night, and does not list the housing minister.
Under the last Labour government, housing was judged a sufficiently important issue to grant housing minister John Healey a seat at cabinet discussions.
Neither the former Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps or the former Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather have been given a role in the new government so far – meaning either could be in line for the housing job.
Among the posts confirmed in the coalition government so far, the appointment of Eric Pickles as communities secretary is the most significant for the housing sector.
Mr Pickles will take overall responsibility for the Communities and Local Government department, overseeing areas including housing, planning, and community cohesion.
He is a former shadow communities secretary, and was Conservative Party chairman before the change of government.
Other key roles have gone to Iain Duncan Smith, who will oversee housing benefit reform as part of his duties as work and pensions secretary. He is a former leader of the Conservative Party, and his think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, has published controversial papers on reforming security of tenure for social tenants.
Conservatives Kenneth Clarke and Theresa May will oversee crime and anti-social behaviour, as justice secretary and home secretary respectively.
Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne will be responsible for energy efficiency as secretary of state for energy and climate change.
Liberal Democrats Vince Cable and David Laws have been given key financial roles, as business secretary and chief secretary to the Treasury respectively, although the top job of chancellor went as expected to Conservative George Osborne.
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Readers' comments (14)
the purple avenger | 13/05/2010 9:57 am
No announcements on a housing minister, no attendance at cabinet and no mention in the ConDem(nation) coalition agreement. Are we getting the message? Housing is not on the agenda. Looks like its a period of consolidation (or contraction?).
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Kittaycat | 13/05/2010 1:04 pm
This is a bad sign ...
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Melvin Bone | 13/05/2010 1:12 pm
You'd have thought they would have sorted this all out by now...they have been in power for 48 a whole hours...
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Roger P Murphy | 13/05/2010 2:10 pm
Hope for the future? after 13 years of Labour demeaning and criminalising social housing tenants I wonder if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are about to do the same.
We rent from a social housing landlord not through choice, because we are not affluent to own a home (and do not want to be homeless).
It is high time the stigma of social housing was abolished, preferably along with so - called Social housing landlords, (such as the criminal behemoth A2 Dominion).
Tenants deserve so much better, under the last government we were the forgotten. Now is the time for revolution in housing, affordable, rented housing
run by a fair, accountable, open and honest housing provider.
That'll be the day
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Harry Lime | 13/05/2010 3:22 pm
Hmmmm, "demeaning" social housing tenants? That's subjective, so if that's what you think fair enough, CRIMINALISING tenants??!! I'd love to hear the justification for that......
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Housing Professional | 13/05/2010 3:50 pm
oh well so much for for the lib dems, they have sold them selves out and i will not forget that! i feel sorry for those in housing need as waiting lists will lengthen and affordable housing will now be neglected. As for the tories well they will be too busy cleaning their moats and looking after their mansions. They really know about housing need don't they! Fair society well last time the tories were in we had stephen lawrence being murdered and the police doing nothing! Sarah teather won't get another chance so she had better muscle in and fight for her constituents :-). will she or won't she? that is the real question? Watch this space!
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Jack Davies | 13/05/2010 4:10 pm
"The housing minister appears to have lost the right to attend cabinet meetings."
APPEARS?
As no Housing Minister has been appointed and a cabinet meeting has been held is the term "appears" necessary in the opening line here?
Having a Housing Minister in the cabinet does show willing at least that housing matters are considered important (regardless of the short-term tenure of each of the 9 or was it 12 Labour Housing Ministers) - whereas its absence says it all and very loud and clear that housing is a matter of little importance to this coalition.
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we're all going to be shafted | 13/05/2010 5:38 pm
Grant Shapps as housing minister will not attend cabinet. Nuff said!
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housingstaff | 13/05/2010 5:43 pm
So far the greatest disappointment is not how venal the cons are - they really haven't had time to demonstrate that although I have full confidence on their ability to do so - but what an abject pushover the Dems have been. The absolute key to power and all they got for it was a couple of rubbish non-seats on the fringes of cabinet.
So look forward to Con housing policies being the way forward. So look forward to social housing being quietly unravelled and sold off to private landlords over the next five years. Or the quiet conversion of HAs to profit driven enterprises indistinguishable from private landlords that's been bubbling away for years being finally let off the leash. Bad time to be living in social housing.
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| 14/05/2010 1:29 am
Something tells me none of you guys voted Tory then...
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