Former shadow energy and climate change secretary of state Caroline Flint has been appointed to head the Committee on Fuel Poverty (CFP).
A Labour MP from 1997 to 2019, Flint will take over from existing chair David Blakemore.
She was shadow energy and climate change secretary from 2011 to 2015 under the leadership of Ed Miliband when Labour proposed a freeze on household bills.
Flint was also minister of state for housing in Gordon Brown’s government.
Before losing her Doncaster North constituency at the 2019 general election, she was one of the leaders of the cross-party campaign by backbench MPs to introduce a price cap on retail energy prices.
Flint’s appointment at the CFP takes effect from 31 January 2022 and lasts for three years.
Flint is also chair of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in 2021 and was co-chair, alongside ex-environment secretary Caroline Spelman, of the thinktank Onward’s ‘Getting to Zero’ decarbonisation programme.
Blakemore has chaired the CFP, which has a remit to advise the government on the effectiveness of its policies to reduce fuel poverty and encourage greater co-ordination across the organisations seeking to tackle the issue, since the body’s foundation in 2016.
His appointment ended in November last year but he has since been serving in an interim basis while a replacement was found.
Blakemore spoke to Utility Week earlier this month about his frustrations over the UK’s slow progress in upgrading homes to be more energy efficient and reduce bills.