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Whitehall insiders are tipping MP Simon Clarke to take up the role of levelling up secretary when new prime minister Liz Truss names her first cabinet. Whoever Truss appoints to head the department of levelling up, and housing will become the sixth incumbent to step through the revolving housing door since 2018.
Like most of the previous seat-warmers, Clarke has minimal experience in housing.
The last MP to accept the job - Greg Clarke - took office on July 7 amid the debacle of former PM Boris Johnson’s government collapse before his eyes in a sleaze controversy. Truss has also considered offering the job to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is now heading for the role of business secretary.
She landed the prime minister’s job by winning a 57 per cent share of the Tory party vote, beating former Chancellor Rishi Sunak into second place. The winning margin was the lowest garnered by a Tory prime minister this century.
Other recent leaders, including Johnson, David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith, collected more than 60 per cent of the party’s vote. Returning from a meeting with the Queen in Balmoral, Scotland, Truss addressed the nation from 10 Downing Street with her inaugural speech as prime minister.
Aged 47, she is the nation’s third woman, prime minister, joining Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May in the roll of honour.
Supporters and critics alike were waiting to see how she plans to tackle the energy and cost of living crisis.
Unfortunately, she had little to say besides a broad-brush promise to deliver on the cost of living, the national health service and getting Britain working again.
“My government will transform Britain into an aspiration nation with high paying jobs, safe streets and where everyone everywhere has the opportunities they deserve,” she said.
"I will take action this day and every day to make it happen."
Truss also promised a bold plan of tax cuts and reform to propel her mission forward would be revealed later in the week. And what does the future hold for Johnson and Sunak? J
ohnson says he will return to the backbenches as an exhausted ‘booster rocket’ that has carried the Tories on course for three years. He enjoyed a successful career as a journalist and author before following his political path as Mayor of London and MP for his West London constituency of Uxbridge.
Sunak has yet to comment about his plans, and it's unknown whether Truss will offer him a consolation job in her cabinet.