Huw Merriman, the MP who regularly champions the travel industry, has been promoted to a position in the Department for Transport.
Mr Merriman becomes a Minister of State in the DfT.
The promotion means Mr Merriman will have to step down from his role as Transport Committee Chairman.
He has regularly stuck up for the travel industry, particularly during the COVID crisis.
During a debate in Parliament in summer 2020, he accused the Government of ‘being far too cautious’ in ‘getting aviation and the travel industry back to where it needs to be’.
He also stuck up for Grant Shapps when he was heavily criticised as Transport Secretary, saying: “Grant is really enthusiastic, he is really positive, I genuinely think he wants to see travel back.
“I would be pushing [then-Chancellor] Rishi Sunak to open up travel and support Grant.”
During an appearance at AITO’s first in-person event after COVID, he encouraged agents and industry suppliers to badger their MPs and ‘make them work’.
“Bring him or her down to your business, ensure they see what the problems are. If enough people do that, the walls will come down,” he said.
“If you write to your MP and get a rubbish response, send it back and say it’s not good enough. Make sure they come to your organisation and do something about it afterwards.”
More recently, Mr Merriman demanded to know why Eurostar had closed Ebbsfleet and Ashford international stations in Kent and axed its popular Disneyland Paris service from next June.
See also: Huw Merriman answers 10 questions you’ve been dying to ask
