Former Sunak Treasury aide and Andy Street ally appointed following departure of housing minister Lucy Frazer


Rachel Maclean has been appointed as a new minister at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities following the departure of housing minister Lucy Frazer.

rachel maclean

Rachel Maclean has joined DLUHC as a minister

Maclean, a former parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Sunak when he was chancellor, has been announced as “minister for state”.

Given the rest of the ministerial team and roles at DLUHC appear to remain unchanged, Maclean looks set to be announced as the new housing minister, although the government has yet to officially confirm her exact role.

The 57-year-oid, who represents the seat of Redditch, in Worcestershire, has held a number of junior governmental positions since being elected in 2017.

 

These include serving as PPS at the treasury in 2019 and 2020 followed by a stint at the ministry of transport. She was appointed PPS for safeguarding at the home office but resigned during last summer’s political crisis that saw the resignation of Boris Johnson as prime minister.

She served briefly as minister for victims and vulnerability at the ministry of justice before becoming a vice chair of the Conservative party in November 2022.

Maclean was the co-chair of former John Lewis boss Andy Street’s successful campaign to become west midlands mayor in 2017.Maclean was educated at Oxford and worked for HSBC before founding publishing company Packt, which publishes books and materials on IT.

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She also founded a charity working with schools to help young people develop skills that businesses look.

Maclean tweeted yesterday, saying: “Delighted to be appointed as minister in DLUHC.“Looking forward to a new challenge, tackling one of the defining issues the government faces. I start now!”