New minister takes responsibility for 'future mobility' at Department for Transport
Fri 24 May 2019
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Michael Ellis MP has replaced Jesse Norman as minister responsible for 'future mobility' and 'transport and the environment' at the Department for Transport (DfT). Mr Ellis was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since January 2018. Jesse Norman will move to the Treasury.
Michael Ellis's move to DfT is the result of a mini-reshuffle following the resignation of Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons, from the Cabinet.
Prior to his role at DCMS, Mr Ellis was deputy leader of the House of Commons from July 2016 to January 2018. He was elected Conservative MP for Northampton North in May 2010.
As transport minister, he will be responsible for cycling and walking policy, electric and autonomous vehicles and the future of mobility as well as transport and the environment. (For his full list of responsibilities, see this link.)
A former barrister Michael Ellis also previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to then Home Secretary Theresa May from May 2015 to July 2016.
Locally he has campaigned for additional Government funding to reduce the problem of potholes and improve road and footpath surfaces in his constituency. He describes his anti-pothole campaign as "a success", as in the 2014 Budget the Chancellor announced an extra £200m for the improvement of roads, "singling out praise for Michael Ellis in the House of Commons for an effective lobbying campaign and for persuading the Government to adopt this course". (Report via De Havilland.)
Since 2003, Mr Ellis has been a regular contributor on the broadcast media internationally for his expertise on British constitutional matters, including for CNN, Sky News and BBC News. This has included coverage of the wedding of the Prince of Wales and many other royal matters.
He backed a Remain vote in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU and supported Theresa May, for whom he had served as PPS, in the short-lived Conservative Party leadership contest that followed after the Brexit vote.
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