A new DLUHC team, a new future Prime Minister, and a continuing cost-of-living crisis

The political landscape has been fast-moving to say the least over the past few weeks. Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister and will step down later this year. We also have a new Cabinet team to get the Government through the summer after a slew of resignations and subsequent new appointments. We now know that either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will take over from Boris Johnson as Prime Minister later this year. 

The cost-of-living crisis is the central concern of NHC members at the moment and the new PM will have to immediately take action to alleviate the impact of rapidly rising costs on households and communities. 

In the North, people are facing an even tougher time. Research by Centre for Cities has shown that inflation is not being experienced at the same level across the UK. Due to the North having a higher proportion of poorly-insulated homes and inflation being largely driven by skyrocketing energy costs, communities in the region are facing even higher prices. 

The NHC is supporting a campaign of more than 40 organisations to call for an urgent plan to support households this winter. The first intervention from the #WarmThisWinter campaign came this month in a letter sent to all Conservative leadership candidates to urge them to outline their plan to support households this winter by ramping up home insulation and clean energy. 

With Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak left in the race, they need to prioritise supporting households with the looming price cap rise to come in October (and again in January), insulating homes at pace, and ramping up the transition away from gas as the main fuel source to heat homes. New research has shown that in Truss’ and Sunak’s own constituencies, fuel poverty is expected to rise to almost 40% of households in October. Clearly, an urgent plan is required so the new Prime Minister can begin to tackle this as soon as they are appointed. 

We will be following developments in the leadership race over the summer closely as the new government prepares to take over from Johnson in September.  

For now, we have a new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and (another) new Housing Minister: 

After Michael Gove was dramatically sacked by Boris Johnson, Greg Clark has been appointed to the role. Clark has been MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells since 2005. It is a return to the Department for Clark who served as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government under David Cameron in 2015. In 2016, he was moved to BEIS by Theresa May where he served until 2019. He has held various other roles such as Minister of State for Decentralisation, Minister for Cities, and Financial Secretary in George Osborne’s Treasury team. 

Marcus Jones MP has been appointed as the new Housing Minister, he has represented Nuneaton since 2010. Previously, he was a Government Whip and served as Minister for Local Government from May 2015 to January 2018 prior to that. Other roles held include in the Treasury and DCMS. Jones is supporting Rishi Sunak to be the next Prime Minister. 

Paul Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam, previously at BEIS, has been appointed a Minister at DLUHC. Lia Nici, MP for Great Grimsby, has also been newly appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – Nici is the only Northern MP in the current DLUHC team. Eddie Hughes MP remains Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing. 

Stuart Andrew MP, Kemi Badenoch MP, Neil O’Brien MP, Danny Kruger MP, and Lord Greenhalgh are all now gone from the Department. 

There are significant questions now around the future plans for levelling up and if the ambition and missions of levelling up the regions will be championed by the incoming government later this year. Without the political clout of Michael Gove and the loss of Neil O’Brien, seen as the “intellectual powerhouse” behind levelling up, the future of Johnson’s flagship policy is uncertain.  

Whatever the fate of ‘levelling up’ is, regional inequality remains deep in the UK and this will have to be addressed by the new government, especially with so many Conservative MPs having won a seat in the North for the first time in 2019 and aspiring to capture these votes again in the future. The NHC will be closely monitoring the direction taken on levelling up, as well as the progress of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill through Parliament, to ensure housing remains central to plans to rebalance the regions.  

With the cost-of-living crisis framing all issues at the moment, the new DLUHC team will have to work across departments, namely BEIS and Treasury, to ensure households are supported this winter and beyond. Inflation is expected to reach double figures this year and improving housing quality and efficiency will be essential to drive down energy bills for households.  

At BEIS, Kwasi Kwarteng MP remains Secretary of State, along with Greg Hands MP as Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, and Lord Callanan as Minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility. Jane Hunt, MP for Loughborough, has been newly appointed as Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets. 

Responding to the new Cabinet appointments at the time, the NHC’s Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison, said: “This has been an extraordinary week. Faces around the cabinet table may change, but the issues facing people and places across the North don’t. There must be a clear commitment to making rebalancing a reality. Less than six months ago, the Government set out a clear set of levelling up missions to take us towards 2030, including an important mission on housing quality. These missions are just as relevant now as they were in February – and our members stand ready to work with Government to put housing at the heart of a rebalanced country.” 

There have also been changes in the shadow housing team, with Mike Amesbury MP, Shadow Minister for Local Government, having resigned from his post recently due to wanting to commit more time to supporting his constituents. As yet, a replacement has not been appointed to the role. 

As the political stage and the actors on it change, the NHC remains focused on influencing stakeholders to ensure housing policy works for the North and supporting our members across a wide-range of issues.  

Please do not hesitate to follow up on any of this with the NHC by contacting Anna Seddon (Policy and Public Affairs Manager) at anna.seddon@northern-consortium.org.uk.