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Former transport and Treasury minister Baroness Charlotte Vere has joined consultancy Stonehaven as a partner, to lead the organisation’s work in transport.
Baroness Vere was a transport minister for five years to November 2023, during which time she held the aviation, maritime, roads, security and local transport briefs.
image: Stonehaven
She then joined the Treasury, where she covered ‘green finance’ and ‘economic security’.
She said, ‘The next decade will be transformational for the transport sector in the UK. Transport leaders will need to navigate and leverage the opportunities from the big shifts, such as shaping and accelerating infrastructure projects, innovating and scaling practical and affordable decarbonisation solutions and, most of all, ensuring that transport continues to serve its users, both passengers and freight.
‘I’m looking forward to working with Stonehaven clients to shape and deliver this transformation through bold, politically deliverable and sustainable, action and investment.’
Stonehaven founder Peter Lyburn said, ‘Charlotte understands the importance of the UK transport industry in delivering the vital aviation, road, rail, bus and maritime improvements needed.
‘We’re delighted to welcome Charlotte to the firm. It will help us build on the growing demand from leadership in the transport sector, who are all looking forward at the opportunities of accelerating policy, to meet the needs of consumer and environmental pressures.’
Baroness Vere is also a non-executive director of airline European Cargo, and will continue to participate as a member of the House of Lords, Stonehaven said.
It has not disclosed her remuneration, although House of Lords rules will require her to do so.
Stonehaven said the appointment further strengthens its transport expertise following the appointment of head of transport policy Michael Dnes in 2024, following a near 20-year career at the Department for Transport (DfT).
Mr Dnes, who left the DfT in September after being made to delete a tweet he wrote about road pricing on July, wrote on LinkedIn: ‘Getting the band back together!’
Channel: Transportation
keywords:
Transport Planning
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Campaign for Better Transport (CfBT) has appointed Ben Plowden as its next chief executive officer, taking over from Paul Tuohy, who is stepping down in the spring.
Mr Plowden is currently with PA Consulting and is chair of the Transport Planning Society (TPS), a visiting professor at University College London and a senior associate at the London School of Economics.
Ben Plowden
He is a member of the Department for Transport’s Capital Review Panel and was criticised in the right-wing media recently for having ‘organised a [TPS} conference in November with the theme “reducing car use in the UK”’.
He was also the first director of active travel charity Living Streets and worked at a senior level at Transport for London for almost 20 years.
Shamit Gaiger, chair of Trustees of CfBT, said: ‘I am thrilled to welcome Ben as the new CEO. His proven leadership in transport, strategic vision, and commitment to effect a change to better our society make Ben the ideal person to lead our organisation into its next chapter.
‘On behalf of the board, I want to express our confidence in Ben and excitement for the journey ahead.’
Mr Plowden said: ‘Better transport – transport that is safe, accessible, integrated and affordable – is essential to improving people’s quality of life and meeting the key challenges we face, including tackling social exclusion, improving productivity and decarbonising the economy.
‘Campaign for Better Transport plays a critical role in improving transport for everyone and I’m delighted to be taking up the role of its chief executive.’
Channel: Transportation
keywords:
Active Travel
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Former Conservative transport minister Rachel Maclean is among 38 new peers who will enter the House of Lords.
Ms Maclean (pictured), who was also a housing and planning minister, once described e-scooters as a form of active travel.
Image source: gov.uk
Party leader Kemi Badenoch said ‘formidable' Conservative Ms Maclean and her other six nominations for life peers were ‘true radicals, the smart and the very brave' who would help take the fight to Labour.
Labour's former skills and children's minister, Kevin Brennan, and former Scottish Labour minister for communities Margaret Curran were named among 30 new Labour peers.
Downing Street announced a raft of nominations to the House of Lords on Friday afternoon, which also included former shadow local government minister Lyn Brown.
Former Bristol mayor Marvin Rees will sit on the Labour Lords benches, along with ex-Camden LBC member Mike Katz and Anne Longfield, who served as the children's commissioner for England between 2015 and 2021.
There were two nominations from the leader of the Lib Dems Sir Ed Davey, including leader of the party on Sheffield City Council Shaffaq Mohammed, who was first elected in 2004.
Labour has pledged to reform the House of Lords and has already moved to get rid of hereditary peers.
This article first appeared on themj.co.uk.
Channel: Transportation
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M Group Services, whose businesses include Milestone Infrastructure, has appointed former retail boss and Tory MP Archie Norman as non-executive chairman.
Mr Norman was formerly chief executive and chairman of Asda and became chairman of Marks and Spencer in 2017. He has also been chairman of ITV and a management consultant with McKinsey.
In the infrastructure sector, he was a director of Railtrack, which failed disastrously and was nationalised, and chairman of telecommunication business Energis.
Mr Norman also had a political career as a Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells for eight years.
He was shadow secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions, during the last Labour government and also co-founded think tank Policy Exchange.
He was also the lead non-executive board member at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for four years, until 2020.
M Group Services chief executive Andrew Findlay said: ‘I’m delighted to welcome Archie to our group and look forward to working with him as we continue to evolve to deliver at the pace of change needed to support essential infrastructure that needs to adapt to a changing world.
‘With an extensive track record in business change and value creation, Archie is a strong advocate for the role of people and culture in long term business success.’
Mr Norman said: ‘This is an exciting time to become chairman of M Group Services. There’s a need to not only maintain, but also to renew and reimagine the essential infrastructure that keeps our country running and supports all aspects of life.
‘I’m delighted to be helping M Group Services to tackle this once in a generation challenge and evolve at this pivotal time.’
In 2020, M Group Services acquired Skanska UK's highway maintenance and street lighting business, forming a new operating business called Milestone Infrastructure.
Channel: Infrastructure
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Heidi Alexander has been appointed as transport secretary after Louise Haigh resigned over a conviction for fraud in connection with an incident in which she incorrectly reported her mobile phone had been stolen during a mugging.
Ms Alexander, who was elected as MP for Swindon South in July, had been a minister of state in the Ministry of Justice.
She also represented Lewisham East in the Commons from 2010 until 2018, when she resigned to take up a role as Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for transport in London.
During her first stint as an opposition MP, Ms Alexander held various front bench posts, including as shadow health secretary, and committee memberships.
The news of Ms Haigh's conviction broke as she made a speech setting out her ‘vision’ for an integrated national transport strategy inspired by the French city of Dijon.
In her resignation letter to prime minister Keir Starmer, she explained that, having been mugged in London in 2013 when she was 24, she gave the police a list of possessions that she believed had been stolen, including her work phone.
She said that ‘some time later’ she discovered that the handset was still in her house. She said that she should have immediately informed her employer, ‘and not doing so straight away was a mistake’.
Ms Haigh wrote: ‘I appreciate that whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government and the policies to which we are both committed.’
Ms Haigh referenced a number of things she had achieved since taking up the role in July, including Royal Assent for the Bill bringing the railways back into public ownership and taking the first steps to putting buses back in the hands of passengers and local people, with the Buses Bill to be laid next month.
She added: ‘My appointment to your Cabinet as the youngest ever woman remains one of the proudest achievements of my life, but not as proud as the steps we took to improve the lives of the British people.’
Ms Haigh appears to be remaining as an MP. In his response, Mr Starmer hinted at her possible return in future.
He thanked her ‘for all you have done to deliver this Government’s ambitious transport agenda’ and added ‘I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.’
Channel: Transportation
keywords:
Transport Planning
