Labour’s dismal showing gives Sajid Javid a gentler first day in the job

Theresa May’s new government gets to work today, and first to face the heat of the Chamber was the Communities and Local Government frontbench. Unfortunately, the Chamber turned out to be rather cool, as very few Labour MPs had managed to turn up, giving Sajid Javid and his team a rather gentler introduction to their new jobs. One of them, Andrew Percy, told the Chamber that ‘I share the House’s surprise!’ on this appointment as he rose to take his first question.

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But largely the questions that were asked were not a surprise for the frontbench. Some Tory MPs were anxious for a renewed commitment from the new ministers to the sanctity of the Green Belt, as even a perceived threat to those doughnuts of protected land around cities can send Tory voters into a wild panic.