Simon Hoare was appointed Minister for Local Government amid Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle yesterday.
Mr Hoare said he was ‘delighted and honoured’ to join the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
He said in a post on X (formerly Twitter): ‘I was fortunate to serve, before becoming an MP, as a parish, district and county councillor between 2002 and 2015 so it’s “nice to be home”’.
The MP for North Dorset was the chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee prior to his new appointment.
The local government minister post was left vacant when Lee Rowley replaced Rachel Maclean as housing minister. Mr Rowley’s appointment marks the 16th to the housing minister role in 12 years.
Mr Rowley is himself a former housing minister, having served between September and October last year under Liz Truss.
Among the other new appointments was Victoria Atkins as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
