Badenoch takes charge at revamped business department

Kemi Badenoch has been appointed as secretary of state at a new business department that is expected to take responsibility for construction.

As part of a cabinet reshuffle today, prime minister Rishi Sunak has split the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy into three new departments.

Badenoch, who was serving as secretary of state for international trade and president of the board of trade will lead a new Department for Business & Trade.

A government source said that it is likely this department will take on responsibility for construction under the new arrangements.

In a formal statement, the government said that the new department “will support growth by backing British businesses at home and abroad, promoting investment and championing free trade”.

Badenoch will remain in her current position as minister for women and equalities.

The status of junior ministers is uncertain as the reshuffle continued to emerge at the time this story was published.

The construction minister, Nusrat Ghani, has been in post since November, when she replaced Jackie Doyle-Price. Doyle-Price had served as construction minister for just six weeks.

Meanwhile, a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will work on securing the UK’s long-term energy supply, bringing down bills and hitting the government’s target of halving inflation.

That department will be led by Grant Shapps, who was serving as business secretary prior to the reshuffle.

Another new department – the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – will focus on “turning scientific and technical innovations into practical, applicable solutions”, according to a government statement.

Housing minister Lucy Frazer, meanwhile, has been appointed secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, meaning the housing portfolio is now vacant. Frazer served as a housing minister since November 2022.

Peter Hardy, real estate partner and co-head of Addleshaw Goddard’s housing team, said: “The number of housing ministers we’ve seen over the last 10 years would be comical were it not such a crucial role.

“The real estate sector deserves a committed and knowledgeable minister for housing, not someone who has only a surface-level understanding of the many myriad issues it’s faced with.”