• Swindon & Wiltshire Appointments
• Monday December 2 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Railway town MP appointed transport secretary

One of the two MPs for railway town Swindon has been appointed secretary of state for transport.

Heidi Alexander, who was elected as the MP for Swindon South in the July general election, had previously served as a minister in the justice department.

The surprise appointment was made on Friday after Louise Haigh resigned from the post after admitting she had been convicted for making a false report to police over a stolen mobile phone.

Ms Alexander has previous experience in the transport brief, having acted as London’s deputy mayor for transport between 2018 and 2021.

During her time in the role, she was tasked with maintaining London transport during the pandemic and leading several rounds of government bailout negotiations. She also oversaw the opening of Crossrail.

In a message to her Twitter followers, the MP wrote: “It’s an incredible honour to have been asked to take on this role.

“I will do all I can to ensure we have a transport system that drives economic growth, connects our communities and protects the environment. A mammoth task ahead.”

That ‘mammoth task’ will include the gradual renationalisation of the railways as private sector contracts expire, and managing plans to take HS2 to Euston, including the £5 billion redevelopment of the station.

Plans to bring HS2 into central London were axed by the Conservatives in 2023, but revived by Labour in Rachel Reeves’ Budget speech in October.

Swindon – a railway town

Swindon is one of the most important historic railway towns in England.

In the 1840s the arrival of the Great Western Railway saw the population boom from 2,000 to 14,000, and the GWR Works became one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world.

The booming population brought facilities like churches, pubs, and the UK’s first lending library.

And in 1847 the Great Western Railway Medical Fund Society was formed by GWR employees. Subscriptions to the fund were deducted from wages to fund the healthcare bills of workers and their families. The fund is acknowledged as providing the blueprint for the NHS a century later.

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