The former Tory leadership candidate has been a backbench MP for the past eight months
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has appointed Sir James Cleverly shadow housing secretary.
Cleverly, who was foreign and home secretary under the last government, stood as a rival leadership contender before Badenoch became Tory party leader eight months ago.
The MP for Braintree will go head-to-head with housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in the House of Commons.
>>See also: Estate agency founder Kevin Hollinrake appointed shadow housing secretary
His appointment replaces the incumbent shadow housing secretary, Kevin Hollinrake, who will become Conservative Party chairman.
Cleverly has been a backbench MP since he was knocked out of the final three in the Tory party leadership race, leaving Badenoch to fight it out with former housing secretary and now-shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
Lewisham-born Cleverly was elected MP for his Essex constituency in 2015, and was shadow home secretary under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s caretaker cabinet.
In remarks reported by the Guardian, Cleverly yesterday attacked the Labour government and the London mayor Sadiq Khan over his housing record, saying the ”Labour government is totally failing the country, and the capital, on housing”.
He said: “Cancelling the London Plan review, cutting housing targets in our capital, using precious stock to house asylum seekers, and housing starts falling to record levels – a stark contrast to the 1m homes the last Conservative government delivered across England in the last parliament alone.”
No comments yet