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Kemi Badenoch appointed shadow housing secretary
Kemi Badenoch has been appointed shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government.
The Conservative MP for North West Essex had been serving as business secretary before the party lost power during last week’s general election.
Ms Badenoch also served as minister of state for local government, faith and communities under Boris Johnson, from September 2021 to July 2022.
She is now seen as a contender for leadership of the Conservatives, after Rishi Sunak said he would vacate the post following the party’s election defeat.
On Tuesday 9 July, Ms Badenoch criticised Mr Sunak’s “disastrous” decision to return early from D-Day commemorations, saying it cost colleagues their seats.
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She was seen as a key ally of former housing secretary Michael Gove, who stepped down as an MP last week.
Mr Gove initially backed Ms Badenoch to replace Mr Johnson as prime minister in 2022, saying she was “brave, principled, brilliant and kind”.
Speaking to Inside Housing during the election campaign trail last month, Mr Gove said that his protégé was behind a Conservative manifesto promise to provide capital gains tax relief to private landlords which sell a home to their existing tenants.
He said: “This was an idea that was originally developed by business secretary Kemi Badenoch when she was in the Department [for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities], and so reached fruition as a result of that.”
As well as her role as business secretary, Ms Badenoch was president of the board of trade and minister for women and equalities from 2022 to 2024.
Before that, she served in parliamentary undersecretary roles in the Department of Education and Treasury.
Ms Badenoch was a member of the London Assembly from 2015 to 2017, when she was elected as an MP.
On 9 July, new Labour housing secretary Angela Rayner confirmed she had scrapped the ‘levelling up’ title from her government department, saying “no more government by gimmick”.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, named by Mr Johnson in 2021, has reverted to its previous title of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Ms Rayner is a key figure in new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet. She was also appointed deputy prime minister on Friday, following Labour’s general election victory.
The following day, Matthew Pennycook was confirmed as minister of state in MHCLG where he will take on the housing brief.
