Will new housing minister pay a heavy price for Boris loyalty?
Lia Nici has been a steadfast supporter of the PM so it's uncertain how long she will be in post.
Boris Johnson loyalist MP Lia Nici has been appointed a levelling up minister with housing responsibilities, it has been revealed.
Nici, who is the MP for Great Grimsby, (pictured) defended the Prime Minister throughout the Partygate scandal and right up to his resignation earlier this month.
She was elected as an MP at the 2019 General Election as one of the ‘Red Wall’ Conservatives who won a constituency that traditionally voted Labour.
Having worked as a college lecturer for 20 years, she later became an executive producer and later CEO at Estuary TV. She voted Remain in the EU referendum.
There doesn’t appear to be anything in her background that would suggest an interest in housing, unlike her colleague Eddie Hughes.
Low profile
Her ministerial portfolio at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which she inherited from Neil O’Brien, covers high streets, towns, commercial property and community assets. She is also responsible for the Levelling Up White Paper.
Nici’s appointment follows that of fellow Johnson supporting MPs Paul Scully and Marcus Jones as junior ministers in DLUHC.
She will be working for the new housing secretary Greg Clark, who replaced the sacked Michael Gove.
On her appointment as a minister Nici kept a low profile, with no mention on her Twitter feed. It is uncertain how long she will serve in the post as a new Prime Minister will come into office in early September and reshuffle ministers.
