Aviation Minister resigns

The affable Simon Burns (Conservative), Minister of State for Transport in the coalition government, has resigned.  He intends to run for the post of Deputy Speaker at the House of Commons, the previous incumbent Nigel Evans standing down to fight sexual assault charges.  Mr Burns has in the past called the present Speaker John Bercow a “stupid sanctimonious dwarf".

If he wins the position, which is not at all guaranteed, it should be an interesting pairing.  He is up against Nadine Dorries who controversially took time off from Parliament to appear in an Australian-based reality TV programme.  There are likely to be other candidates too.

It is expected that there will be a reshuffle of middle-ranking Conservative ministerial ranks in the coming weeks and maybe Mr Burns felt himself under pressure.  As the junior minister responsible not only for HS2 but also air transport he had during his time in office been seen at most major events and was easy to communicate with.  Next Monday sees AOA where Mr Burns was to lead off the proceedings.  Justine Greening, when appointed Secretary of State for Transport in October 2011, had a little over 48 hours before appearing in front of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee.  She survived the gruelling. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport‎

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