Guy Opperman takes over roads and DVLA brief at the DfT after re-shuffle
Published: 16/11/2023
It's all-change at the Department for Transport as Guy Opperman MP replaces Richard Holden MP as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (PUSS).
In doing so, the 58-year-old picks up the 'roads' brief, along with that of responsibility for the DVLA, currently in the process of a Cabinet Office-sponsored inquiry, to which the Federation of British Historic Vehicles Clubs has submitted a comprehensive evidence dossier.
Elected in 2010 as MP for Tynedale & Ponteland, which has Hexham at the heart of the constituency, Opperman's new role sees him leave the Department for Work and Pensions where he had been since 2017, initially as a PUSS, then latterly Minister of State, responsible for employment.
Between 2015 and 2017 he served in the Whip's office.
At the DfT his full list of responsibilities comprises:
- roads maintenance and infrastructure delivery (including National Highways)
- motoring agencies (DVLA, DVSA, VCA)
- local transport including buses, taxis, light rail
- active travel (cycling and walking)
- Kent including BROCK, TAP
- EES and borders
- haulage
- Future of Freight
- women’s safety
- accessibility (cross-cutting lead as Ministerial Disability Champion)
It's not the first time that Opperman has reported to Mark Harper (the current Secretary of State for Transport); he previously served as Private Parliamentary Secretary to Harper, when he was Immigration Minister, from 2012.
Born in Marlborough, Wiltshire and educated at Harrow, he went on to read law at the University of Buckingham. He also gained a first class diploma from the University of Lille.
Called to the bar in 1989, he spent 20 years as a barrister of which 15 years were predominantly at the criminal bar where he prosecuted and defended in a number of murder and rape trials.
While a barrister, he did many years pro bono work with the Western Circuit Free Representation Unit and the Bar Pro Bono Unit, providing free legal assistance in hundreds of cases on behalf of Victim Support and Citizens Advice Bureau. The Times named him 'Lawyer of the Week' in 2007 and he was awarded the Bar Pro Bono Award by attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, for his voluntary work on behalf of victims in Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals.
In 2009, the attorney general, Baroness Scotland, presented him with a Pro Bono Hero award in the House of Commons for his work on preventing hospital closures. He is no longer in active practice at the Bar having committed to being a full-time Member of Parliament.
Married, with one child, Opperman was also Director of his family’s engineering business until 2009.
An amateur jockey, he rode his first winner in 1985. He continues to ride and has won a number of point-to-point horse races.
Opperman has raised almost £10,000 for charity including over £4,000 in 2011 for the National Brain Appeal at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery which he credits with saving his life after suffering from a brain tumour.
