Government appoints new construction minister

The Tory peer replaces Jesse Norman, whose brief will now be focused on energy.

Lord Prior joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy last month as parliamentary undersecretary – on the same day Baroness Neville-Rolfe left her role as energy minister to become commercial secretary to the Treasury.

It is understood that Lord Prior’s brief within BEIS will cover infrastructure, construction, professional services, rail supply chain and the maritime sector.

Mr Norman moves on less than six months after being given the position of construction minister as a result of Theresa May’s Cabinet shake-up.

In addition to the areas covered by Lord Prior’s current brief, Mr Norman also looked after energy policy, nuclear and oil and gas, including shale gas.

Lord Prior was chairman of the Care Quality Commission from 2013, where he led the regulator through significant change following the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust scandal. He served at the Department of Health as minister for NHS productivity from May 2015 until December 2016.

He is a qualified barrister and worked as an associate at Lehman Brothers and Lazard Freres, as well as spending 15 years working as a senior executive with British Steel.

His father, also Lord Prior, was employment secretary under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “We welcome the appointment of Lord Prior, whose combination of political and professional experience should leave him well placed to forge the strong, collaborative relationship that is needed between industry and government.

“It’s undoubtedly an exciting time for the construction sector as we respond to the opportunities and challenges which stem from the recommendations made by the recent Farmer and Bonfield reviews.

“We are also in the midst of the government’s review of the CITB, the outcome of which will decide the future of our industry training board.”