Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye, has been promoted to the climate change brief in the recent Cabinet reshuffle by David Cameron. She becomes Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate Change, taking on almost the same portfolio as Greg Barker, Tory MP for Bexhill and Battle, who resigned earlier this month as Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change. Barker has announced he will stand down at the next election.
Rudd’s responsibilities will include promoting fracking and limiting onshore wind farms. According to the Department’s website, she will also pursue energy pricing, renewable heat incentives, green jobs and skills, fuel poverty, carbon budgets and planning reform and consents. She lives in Hastings and has two children.