McDonald named as new construction minister

Chris McDonald has been appointed as the new construction minister, succeeding Sarah Jones.

The government’s website says that McDonald, who was elected as Labour MP for Stockton North in July last year, officially took up the construction brief last Thursday (11 September).

But his responsibilities in the DBT and as a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) covers 18 other policy areas including infrastructure, advanced manufacturing sectors and green skills.

McDonald is the 27^th minister to hold the construction minister brief in the past 25 years, replacing Sarah Jones in the role.

Jones moved to the Home Office as junior minister on 6 September, amid a broader government reshuffle in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation as housing secretary and deputy prime minister.

McDonald’s appointment to the construction brief comes as the government looks to accelerate infrastructure delivery and support energy transition, both areas where he has experience.

Before he was elected to parliament, the new minister spent two decades working in the steel industry, including senior roles at Tata Steel.

In 2014 he led the divestment of the Materials Processing Institute from Tata and served as its chief executive until his election as an MP.

A chemical engineering graduate from the University of Cambridge, McDonald also holds an MBA from the University of Warwick.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is registered as a chartered engineer with the Engineering Council. He is also a professor in practice at the Durham University Business School.

Macdonald is editor of Millennium Steel Publishing, which is published annually and sent free of charge to engineers and key managers in the steel industry worldwide.

He is also a trustee of the charity Redhills, which serves as a steward of Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall on behalf of the Durham Coalfield communities.

His brief at DBT includes oversight of the construction, automotive, aerospace and steel industries, while his DESNZ remit covers clean energy jobs, energy infrastructure investment and industrial energy bills.

As the minister holding the construction brief, McDonald should have an additional role as co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), although the CLC had not updated its website at the time of publication.

Construction News contacted the CLC for comment.