Two new ministers have been appointed at the Department for Transport (DfT), with three leaving the department, including the sacking of one minister who was only appointed in July.
Following the appointments of Liz Truss as prime minister and Anne-Marie Trevelyan as transport secretary, Kevin Foster and Lucy Frazer have come into the DfT as ministers of state.
The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP
Mr Foster had been parliamentary under secretary of state at the Home Office since February 2020, while Ms Frazer had been financial secretary to the Treasury since September 2021.
Wendy Morton, who had been a DfT minister of state since February, was promoted to be chief whip, while Trudy Harrison, minister of state since July and previously a parliamentary under secretary of state, was moved to environment department Defra.
Karl McCartney, who was parliamentary under secretary of state since July, was sacked after just two months in the role.
It appears that Mr McCartney was never given a ministerial portfolio, although he did speak on behalf of the Government in a Commons debate last Wednesday (7 September).
He said: ‘My phone is not on, but no news is good news, so he will be pleased to hear that I am still here as a minister in the Government—we will wait and see what happens over the next 24 hours.’
He was sacked the next day.
Before being made a minister, Mr McCartney was a member of the Transport Select Committee and was expected to be ‘discharged’ from the role. However, he remains a member of the committee.
The DfT website does not currently list responsibilities for Mr Foster or Ms Frazer but does state the responsibilities for existing parliamentary under secretaries of state Robert Courts (aviation, maritime, and security and civil contingencies) and Baroness Vere (roads, motoring agencies, buses and taxis, light rail and devolution).
However, some or all of these briefs may be allocated to the new ministers.
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