You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Former housing minister steps down as chair of Clarion’s charity arm
Gavin Barwell, the former housing minister and chief of staff to Theresa May, has left his role as chair of Clarion’s charity arm but remains part of the giant landlord’s group board.
Gavin Barwell has left his role as chair of Clarion’s charity arm but remains part of the giant landlord’s group board #ukhousingMr Barwell, who joined the UK’s largest housing association as a non-executive in late 2019, was appointed chair of Clarion Futures in January 2022.
However, a Companies House filing revealed that Mr Barwell stepped down as a director at Clarion Futures on Tuesday.
Inside Housing understands he is also no longer chair at the charity, which funds community projects and helps jobseekers, but it is not immediately clear why he has left.
Mr Barwell was given a life peerage in 2019, but has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since February 2023.
Read more
Housing supply ‘overshadowed’ fire safety despite multiple warnings before Grenfell, Barwell acceptsA House of Lords spokesperson confirmed to Inside Housing he is still on a leave of absence.
Mr Barwell took the leave shortly after he was found in breach of the House of Lords’ code of conduct, due to registration issues with a consultancy business he runs.
A report into the breach did not suggest the leave of absence request was linked to the conduct breach.
Inside Housing understands Mr Barwell is still part of the Clarion Housing Group board and remains on its remuneration, nominations and people committee.
He was also appointed to Clarion’s development committee on Tuesday. Graham Farrant, who has also been on Clarion’s board for nearly six years, has taken over as chair of Clarion Futures.
Mr Barwell became housing minister in July 2016 but lost his seat as an MP during the snap general election of June 2017, a week before the Grenfell Tower fire.
He was appointed prime minister Theresa May’s chief of staff immediately after losing his seat in parliament.
Last year’s final Grenfell Tower Inquiry report was critical of several former government ministers, including Mr Barwell.
The criticism was over their failure to engage with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fire Safety, which warned more than 14 times that the recommendations from the coroner of the 2009 Lakanal House fire, in which six people died, needed to be addressed.
Mr Barwell told the inquiry in 2022 that a focus on housing supply had “overshadowed” issues of safety during his time as housing minister.
Among his other current roles, the former Croydon Central MP is an independent trustee of the charitable arm of Barratt Redrow, the UK’s biggest house builder.
Mr Barwell is also the co-founder of advisory firm NorthStar, which provides “advice to businesses about UK and geopolitical risk”, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sign up for our monthly Housing Moves newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Related stories
