Alistair Darling was today named the UK’s new transport secretary (minister) following a re-shuffle of prime minister Tony Blair’s cabinet after Stephen Byers resigned yesterday.
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Blair also transferred responsibility for local government and the regions from the transport minister to deputy prime minister John Prescott.
In addition, Sir Richard Mottram, until this morning the transport department’s permanent secretary, has swapped jobs with work and pensions department head Rachel Lomax.
The Guardian newspaper said that Darling “takes on a poisoned chalice – a difficult brief, currently in chaos, that defeated John Prescott and left Byers’ once promising career in ruins”.
But the newspaper added that Darling had made a success out of a complex work and pensions ministry and lists transport as one of his special interests, having served on the Lothian region (in Scotland) transport committee.
The Guardian said that shadow transport secretary (the Conservative parliamentary Opposition transport spokesperson) Theresa May, who repeatedly called for Byers’ resignation, congratulated Darling on his new appointment and, in a letter, said she hoped he would deliver a “coherent and over-arching” transport strategy that included reversing road traffic congestion.
