Tory
leader


Rishi
Sunak
has
named
the
members
of
his
shadow
cabinet,
in
the
wake
of
the
Labour
landslide
in
last
week’s
election.

The
new
shadow
transport
secretary
is
Helen
Whately,
the
MP
for
Faversham
and
Mid
Kent,
who
was
social
care
minister
in
the
last
government.
The
last
Conservative
transport
secretary
Mark
Harper
was
not
a
candidate
for
transport
shadow
because
he
lost
his
seat,
while
his
rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
had
announced
his
resignation
in
May,
and
did
not
stand
in
this
election.

On
the
Labour
side,
the
new
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh,
who
held
the
shadow
post
while
Labour
was
in
opposition,
will
be
assisted
by
Peter
Hendy,
who
is
a
former
London
transport
commissioner
and
now
the
chair
of
Network
Rail.
He
had
also
been
leading
the
preparations
for
the
Railway
200
festival
next
year.

Lord
Hendy
has
been
named
as
minister
of
state
at
the
DfT,
and
is
set
to
speak
for
the
government
on
transport
matters
in
the
Lords,
but
his
precise
responsibilities
have
yet
to
be
announced.

The
Network
Rail
website
has
not
yet
acknowledged
Lord
Hendy’s
new
position
in
government,
and
still
shows
him
as
chair
and
board
member.