Former Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been appointed as Transport Secretary in a cabinet reshuffle by newly appointed prime minister Liz Truss.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the 13th Transport Secretary this century

Trevelyan – a North East MP who’d backed Truss in the early stages of the leadership battle – is the 13th Transport Secretary this century.

She replaces MP for Welwyn Hatfield Grant Shapps, who had been Transport Secretary under Boris Johnson’s administration from 2019 to 2022. He’d prominently backed the new PM’s leadership rival Rishi Sunak.

Announcing his departure on Twitter, Shapps said: “It has been a privilege to serve as Transport Secretary; a job I loved.

“Now I look forward to being a strong, independent voice on the backbenches, developing policies that will further the Conservative cause.”

His tenure had not been without controversy, including for smart motorways and the ending of the plug-in grants for electric vehicles.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan was first elected as MP for the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency at the 2015 general election.

She previously held the role Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade from September 2021 and also served as Secretary of State for International Development in 2020.

Following her appointment, she tweeted: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed Transport Sec. Transport is crucial to our lives – bringing people together, creating jobs & connecting the UK with the world. Looking forward to getting to work on the many challenges & opportunities transport brings.”

The AA has also responded to her appointment, announcing its top 10 priorities for motorists:

1) Make UK roads safer – promote vision zero road deaths and set targets. Improve rural roads, cycling, pedestrian safety.

2) Surge in EV charging – improve charging infrastructure, cut VAT for on-street chargers to 5%.

3) Boost for zero emission vehicles – incentives for lower-income drivers to go electric and set longer-term fiscal incentives for company car drivers.

4) Reform smart motorways – full review and promote ‘controlled’ motorways with hard shoulder.

5) Fix the roads – boost ring-fenced spending and funnel penalty charge income into filling potholes.

6) Expand Park and Ride – cut congestion and pollution with cost-effective parking on city outskirts and help urban alternative transport.

7) Increase traffic police – cops in cars reduce overall crime and improve road safety.

8) Fuel price transparency – extend Northern Ireland’s Fuel Price Checker tool to reinvigorate competition and consider EV charge rate transparency.

9) Moving traffic violation enforcement protection – extend online transparency of London’s traffic offences tribunals.

10) Speed up roll-out of assisted driving technology – mandate AEB, reduce collisions, cut casualties and improve road network efficiency.

“Anne-Marie Trevelyan’s appointment as the 13th Transport Secretary this century, despite the financial pressures on the country, still holds the potential for revolutions in the switch to electric vehicles, road safety, competitive pricing, fair enforcement and a leap in car technology,” said Edmund King, the AA’s president.

“Unfettered by covid lockdowns and with much of the groundwork already laid for transport innovation, the new Transport Secretary needs to be a plucky 13.”