Luke Charters MP appointed PPS for Angela Rayner at Housing

York Outer Labour MP Luke Charters has been made a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

In an announcement made today, it was revealed that he is set to join fellow northern MPs Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) and Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East), who are set to serve under former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

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As reported by The Press in May, Luke was previously a PPS for Business Secretary Peter Kyle until he resigned from the position in the lead-up to Andy Burnham’s bid to become an MP – calling for the Labour Party to be ‘bolder with our ideas and more confident in our approach’.

On his appointment, Luke said: “I’m really pleased to be taking on the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“It’s a great opportunity to work with Angela Rayner and the team. Over the past week or so, there’s been a real sense of optimism around some of the changes being announced, from building more council homes to taking action on rough sleeping.

“Hopefully it’s the start of showing people that government can make a positive difference to everyday life.

“For me, though, of course, York Outer comes first. It’s where I was born, where I grew up and where I’m now raising my family.

“At the end of the day, that’s who I work for. I’ll keep getting out across the constituency, listening to people, helping where I can, and making sure York Outer has a strong voice in Government.”

A PPS is the first kind of job on the ministerial ladder an MP is likely to get and are bound by the collective responsibility principle to support the government’s agenda in public.

They serve as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the department – helping to advise Minsters, aid communication between the Minster and backbench MPs (who do not hold a role), and help promote their department’s policies.

They do not get a ministerial salary on top of their Parliamentary pay.

According to a letter sent to Labour MPs by Anneliese Midgley, the Government Chief Whip, new Prime Minister Burnham is seeking to “strengthen and elevate” the role as part of a ‘wider culture change’ that they hope to create.

PPSs could soon be able to make more media appearances and carry out more work in Parliament on behalf of the Government.

In her letter, Ms Midgley said: “Serving as a PPS is one of the most important roles for parliamentarians and they are vitally important to the functioning of effective Government.

“The Prime Minister and I have therefore reviewed how we can strengthen and elevate the role so that it better reflects the way we want the Government to operate.

“We want to better recognise the contributions PPSs make to their departments. To the Parliamentary Labour Party, and to the success of the Government as a whole.”