Fourth construction minister this year appointed

Nusrat Ghani has been named as the new construction minister, the fourth person in the role this year.

The Wealden, East Sussex MP takes over the brief from Jackie Doyle-Price, who left earlier this month after just two months in the post.

The appointment makes Ghani the ninth construction minister in four years. She was appointed as a minister of state for industry and investment security under LIz Truss in September.

Born in Kashmir and raised in Birmingham, she worked at a number of charities including Age UK and Breakthrough Breast Cancer before being elected as an MP in 2015.

A Brexiteer, her parliamentary career includes a stint on the Home Affairs Select Committee, a role as parliamentary private secretary at the Home Office and as a whip and a minister at the Department of Transport.

Ghani made headlines in January 2022 after she said she was dismissed as a transport minister in 2020 because she was a Muslim, a claim which was denied by then Conservative Party chief whip Mark Spencer.

As construction minister, she will be the industry’s main point of contact with the government and will co-chair the Construction Leadership Council with Mace chief executive Mark Reynolds.

Others to hold the construction brief this year include Lee Rowley, who resigned in July, and was replaced briefly by Lord Callanan.