Our alumna Heidi Alexander MP has been appointed Secretary of State for Transport in the UK Government.
Ms Alexander holds an undergraduate degree in Geography and a master’s degree in European Urban and Regional Change from Durham. As Transport Secretary, she will have overall responsibility for the Department for Transport.
She first entered the UK Parliament in 2010, as Labour MP for Lewisham East, and remained until 2018. During that time she served as Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health. She resigned from Parliament in May 2018 to become Deputy Mayor of London.
In 2024, Ms Alexander re-entered Parliament, as Labour MP for Swindon South. Until her appointment as Transport Secretary, she served as Minister for State for Courts and Legal Services.
Several of our former students and staff are members of the House of Commons or House of Lords.
In Government, Ms Alexander works alongside Prisons Minister Lord (James) Timpson OBE, who is a Durham alumnus and to whom earlier this year we presented an honorary degree.
Baroness (Maeve) Sherlock OBE is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Work and Pensions, and Sarah Jones MP is a Minister of State for Industry.
In addition our Chancellor and distinguished foreign affairs expert Dr Fiona Hill is co-leading a comprehensive review of the UK Armed Forces.
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