Grant Shapps sacked as transport secretary

Grant Shapps has announced he will not be serving as transport secretary under new prime minister Liz Truss.

In a statement on Twitter, the former secretary of state said he will be an 'independent voice on the backbenches'.

It has been a privilege to serve as Transport Secretary; a job I loved. Now I look forward to being a strong, independent voice on the backbenches, developing policies that will further the Conservative cause and the interests of my constituents in Welwyn Hatfield.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) September 6, 2022

He has been replaced by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed and former secretary of state for international trade and president of the Board of Trade.

Throughout his tenure at the Department for Transport, Mr Shapps faced many crises, not least subsidising most of the transport industry throughout COVID.

He was also forced to launch an 'action plan' to deal with the controversies over smart motorways. Prime minister Truss has already been critical of the roads initiative, suggesting the policy had failed.

More recently he failed to engage with unions over industrial action and has been criticised over his handling of service cutbacks on the rail network.

However, he was a competent public performer for former PM Boris Johnson's government and was one of the few ministers counted on to face the media at difficult times.