Alok Sharma, MP for Reading West, has been appointed Minister of State for Housing and Planning at the Department of Communities and Local Government.
His predecessor, Gavin Barwell, lost his seat in the June 2017 General Election. Sharma's own majority was reduced from over 6,000 to 2,876.
Sharma is an accountant and most of his working life has been in finance-related fields. He was a strong remainer during the Remain/Leave referendum campaign, taking on a directorship of UK Indians for Remaining in Europe Ltd. He has recently served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and been a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee and the Treasury Select Committee. He is not known to have any particular policy positions on housing issues.
According to theyworkforyou.com , his voting record since first being elected in 2010 has followed government policy in most cases, and certainly on housing and housing-related issues. He has voted:
- to end lifetime secure tenancies
- to charge market rents to higher earners in social housing
- to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998
- to introduce the so-called 'Bedroom Tax'
- against raising welfare benefits at least in line with prices