Posted 13th May 2010 | 3 Comments
New Transport Secretary named by Prime Minister
PHILIP Hammond has been appointed transport secretary by the Prime Minister.
The popular former transport secretary Andrew Adonis keeps his place in the House of Lords, but he had always maintained that he would only serve in a Labour cabinet, and would never "cross the floor" in any circumstances.
Mr Hammond is a former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury. Alistair Darling had served as an actual chief secretary before moving to transport in 2002, replacing Stephen Byers.
Conservative Philip Hammond, who is 51, was elected to Runnymede and Weybridge in 1997, after a career in small and medium-sized companies. His other shadow portfolios include Health, Work and Pensions, and Local Government and the Regions.
Reader Comments:
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Andrew John Blurton, Stafford, United Kingdom
I FEEL SAD TO SEE ANDREW ADONIS GO WHO HAS RAISE SO MANY IMPORTANT ISSUES ABOUT POOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE U.K & A FANTASTIC JOB TO CREATE A MORE FLEXIBLE TRANSPORT NETWORK IN THE UK!!!
Rob, Leeds, England
I agree 100% - real pity that Adonis isn't i/c transport anymore.
I know that the Lib-Dems had a tremendous rail strategy in their manifesto, but whether it was one of the bargaining chips that was tossed aside in return for power, we shall see. They were looking at many line a station re-openings - reversing some of the Beeching cuts.
We do have an earlier commitment to a High Speed Network though (for now at least!)
les Burge, leicester, england
Sad to see that Andrew Adonis is not still involved in the transport department.
Particularly because of his input into railways and the need for us to go for greener transport modes. He did a great Job.