Who is new housing minister Rachel Maclean?

But the 57-year-old enjoyed a varied life before joining the Westminster bubble. Albeit none of it involved any direct experience of the housing sector.

Born in India, she then went to a comprehensive school in the Midlands, before going on to study experimental psychology at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She later obtained a master’s degree in work and occupational psychology from Aston University.

From here she took a place on HSBC’s fast-track graduate recruitment scheme, working for three years in Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo up until 1992. After various sales roles elsewhere, in 2005 she launched a specialist IT and software content publishing company – Packt Publishing – with her husband David.

Ms Maclean’s entrepreneurial efforts did not end there.

Later, the mother-of-four co-founded an HR software business and founded a charity working with schools to help young people develop business skills.

Path to politics

With no obvious political experience, Ms Maclean’s career into the field was not all plain sailing. She came second to Labour after contesting the Birmingham Northfield seat in the 2015 general election. 

Two years later she won her Redditch seat after Karen Lumley stepped down due to ill health. 

Since joining parliament, Ms Maclean has held various junior ministerial roles, reflecting the recent dizzying state of British politics. 

Her first ministerial red box was handed to her at the Department for Transport in 2020, where she served under Boris Johnson for a year-and-a-half. Ms Maclean then joined the Home Office as minister for safeguarding. However, she was among the wave of Conservative ministers who quit last summer, which led to Mr Johnson being ousted as prime minister.

She then had a short spell as minister for victims and vulnerability under Liz Truss. Following this she was a vice-chair of the Conservative Party before taking up the housing minister role. 

Controversy

Ms Maclean found herself under the media spotlight last May after an interview on Sky News in which she appeared to suggest that people struggling with the cost of living should work more hours or move to a better-paid job. 

Her comments were strongly criticised by opposition parties and on social media. However, she claimed that the comments had been taken out of context as it was a “long-term” idea that would not work for all households. 

DLUHC-y?

She is likely to feel welcomed at DLUHC as she supported her new boss, Michael Gove, in the Conservative leadership contest in 2019. 

However unlike Mr Gove, a prominent Brexiteer, Ms Maclean voted remain in the EU referendum. 

She is used to holding her own in boisterous environments, having previously spent 15 years as a Scout leader.

Her voting record in parliament gives no clear indication where she might sit on key issues affecting the sector, if she gets a chance to have an impact. And given recent history, that remains up for debate.