Jane Hunt to replace Paul Scully as BEIS MP

11-Jul-2022 - Last updated on 11-Jul-2022 at 11:01 GMT

Working with the sector: Jane Hunt to replace Paul Scully as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at BEIS (Credit: Getty/ Luis Davilla)

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Jane Hunt, MP for Loughborough, has been confirmed to replace Paul Scully as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

This comes as last week saw Scully take up a new appointment as Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities amid mass resignations across the Conservative party, including outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In a tweet posted on Friday evening Scully said: “Delighted that Jane Hunt is going to the most amazing job which I'll miss. Working for postmasters, hospitality and retail sectors, entrepreneurs, consumers, and workers across the UK. She'll be fab.”

During his time working with BEIS, Scully spearheaded last summer’s ‘Hospitality Strategy’ and launched the Hospitality Sector Council as well as announcing the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill.

Big shoes to fill

More recently, he widened the exclusivity ban, which prevents employees (except for those on zero hours contracts) from taking second jobs, to include those earning less than £123.

Speaking regarding the Hospitality Strategy Scully said: “The pandemic has meant we’ve had to stay apart, and this has had a big impact on the hospitality industry, which exists to bring people together.”

Following the new appointment, Hunt has stated, via Twitter, she has “big shoes to fill” but “was looking forward to getting started”.

Trade bodies across the sector also took to Twitter to express thanks to Scully for his work with the sector, in particular through the pandemic, as well as having welcomed Hunt to the new role.

Delighted that @JaneMHunt is going to the most amazing job which I'll miss. Working for postmasters, hospitality and retail sectors, entrepreneurs, consumers and workers across the UK. She'll be fab https://t.co/Ft135sqYKc
— Paul Scully MP (@scullyp) July 8, 2022

UKHospitality (UKH) CEO Kate Nicholls said: “Thank you for listening, engaging, and working with the industry and for your help and support as the first hospitality minister.

Looking forward

“We look forward to working with you Jane.”

Furthermore, British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) chief executive officer Steve Alton also tweeted thanking Scully for “working closely with the sector”.

He said: “Thank you for working closely with the sector over the last two years and your appreciation and understanding of the challenges of individual operators.

“Look forward to working with Jane Hunt on delivering the hospitality strategy.”