Philip Hammond named as new Transport Secretary

Date: 13/5/2010

Philip Hammond, Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Transport.

The politician has previously worked in a number of departments in the shadow cabinet, including Work and Pensions, Health, Local Government and the Regions and his last role was as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Mr Hammond is originally from Essex and went to school in Brentwood before going on to read politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition agreement noted the proposed additional runways at Stansted and Gatwick have been refused, along with the third runway at Heathrow.

It also stated a high-speed rail network will be developed to improve rail travel across the country.

The appointment of Mr Hammond has been welcomed by Theo de Pencier, the Chief Executive of the Freight Transport Association, who remarked: "We look forward to working with him on those pressing challenges facing the industry right now, from investment in infrastructure to finding workable carbon solutions and creating more capacity across all modes of transport."