Greg Clark has replaced Eric Pickles as the new secretary of state for communities and local government, as part of David Cameron's post-election reshuffle of frontbench ministers.
Mr Clark previously served as planning and decentralisation minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and helped oversee the National Planning Policy Framework reforms and the introduction of Local Enterprise Partnerships.
In July 2011 Mr Clark was given the role of cities minister to promote the economies of England’s urban centres and oversaw a team of civil servants who helped usher in the two waves of City Deals which saw economic powers transferred from Whitehall to local authorities on a case by case basis.
Outgoing communities secretary, Eric Pickles tweeted:
I could not wish for a better successor than @gregclarkmp He will do a fantastic jog. More announcements later in the week of my new role
— Eric Pickles (@EricPickles) May 11, 2015
One of the key tasks for Mr Clark at the DCLG over the next Parliament will be to pursue greater English devolution as part of the constitutional rebalancing act deemed necessary in the light of last year’s Scottish independence referendum.
