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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
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Transport Planning
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The Rees Jeffreys Road Fund is again running its Transport MSc Bursary programme, for the academic year 2025-26.
Up to eight bursaries of £10,000 each are available for a range of transport-related topics and are aimed at students who would not be able to afford to study without the bursary.
The Trustees of the Fund said they are hoping to encourage more people to study for a transport related MSc – both those who are new to the transport sector and people who are currently employed in the sector who may wish to add to their professional skills or knowledge.
The Fund prioritises applicants with a strong commitment to developing a new career or further developing their existing career centred in the highways and transport sector in the UK.
Applications are welcome from students of any age and background, including applicants who are mid-career.
Bursaries are available for both full-time and part-time studies and are intended to cover course fees.
People interested in studying for a transport-related MSc should initially speak to one of the 14 universities who run transport related MSc programmes. They are listed on the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund website.
Chair of trustees Ginny Clarke said: ‘We are keen to continue the life work of our founder William Rees Jeffreys by supporting today’s highways professionals to have access to high quality professional education, by funding once again the MSc Bursary scheme and look forward to hearing how this supports people to progress their careers.'
Dr Antoneta Horbury (pictured) was awarded a bursary to study for an MSc in Transport run jointly by UCL and Imperial College in 1992.
She said: ‘I was unsure what to do after university and the MSc in Transport looked interesting so I thought I would give it a go and have been hooked on transport ever since.
‘I stayed on at UCL and completed a PhD on "Automatic vehicle location technology: Applications for buses" in 1997.
‘Since then I have been a post doc at UCL looking at railway safety cases, a service planner at London Underground, a research analyst and principal transport planner at London Councils, a rail policy analyst at the ORR and the transport policy manager at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
‘I am now the director of policy and technical affairs at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and have the Bus Centre of Excellence within my team. I have enjoyed my career in transport enormously and I am very grateful to the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund for making it all possible.’
The deadline for universities to apply for a bursary on behalf of students is 27 June 2025.
Channel: Transportation
keywords:
Transport Planning
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The Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) has announced the appointment of Lyle Andrew FIHE as its new chief executive.
Mr Andrew has extensive experience in the highways and infrastructure sector and has worked with the Institute of Asphalt Technology for the past six years.
Lyle Andrew
The IHE said his 'vision and dedication will further the IHE’s mission of fostering professional excellence and knowledge exchange within the highway engineering community'.
Mr Andrew said: 'I am honoured to take on the role of chief executive at the Institute of Highway Engineers and collaborate with its esteemed members to advance innovation and best practices in highway engineering.'
IHE president Katharine Kelly said: 'We are delighted to welcome Lyle as our new chief executive.
'His record at the IAT speaks for itself, and we are impressed with his commitment to serve our members, putting their needs at the heart of his strategic vision for our future. His leadership capabilities will undoubtedly steer the IHE towards greater achievements and impact within the sector.'
Mr Andrew will take over as chief executive when current CEO Steve Spender retires at the beginning of December.
Channel: Highways
keywords:
Transport Planning
