If you weren’t aware of who Steve Reed was a fortnight ago, it’s safe to say you can probably now name which school he attended thanks to the copious number of posts on LinkedIn or in the press. 

From my time in Parliament, I was taught to wait and watch for the fallout as that is where the reality lies and this is very much the case here. It’s safe to say that, based on our understanding of how the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was run under Angela Rayner, Matthew Pennycook was assumed by many to be in line for the top job in the Department.  

Alas, no, the (current) Prime Minister was busy on the phone to a certain Ed Miliband asking him to take over as the MHCLG Secretary of State. Sidenote – Ed clearly did not want to give up his brief as Energy Secretary and this could be read as a sign of integrity and somebody who was dedicated to their role. It could also be an indicator of the PM’s authority – history shows that it’s never a great sign if they can’t choose their own team, especially after only a year in office. 

With no Ed Miliband move on the cards, attention turned to an alternative in the form of Steve Reed. Being a number two pick is not always a bad thing, sometimes everything happens for a reason and with the new SoS, the development industry has an ally who simply gets it. As a former councillor and council leader, not only does he fully understand the frustrations raised by developers, but he will also oversee the implementation of local government reorganisation which is already having an impact on development. 

The timescales for the reorganisation were always ambitious, so perhaps a change at the top could see certain elements put on pause or delayed, focusing attention on getting the Mayoral elections for the first cohort of local authorities out of the way. 

We’re bound to see plenty of images of Steve Reed in high viz and a hard hat in the coming months – he will no doubt continue to communicate his views on the sector, especially at the upcoming Labour party conference, so watch this space. 

Much is made of how the Conservatives got through nine housing ministers from 2010 – 2024. This Labour government is now on two (or is it 2.5?) and counting…