Landlords might have found themselves an ally in the newest minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Lucy Frazer - the latest MP to join returning boss Michael Gove '� is a landlord who rents out a property in London and also defended the government's decision to stand down eviction protections for residential tenants after the pandemic.

She told BBC Question Time in 2021 that tenants had been 'protected for a long period of time'�, adding 'it is important that landlords can take control where necessary'�.

A fan of Rishi Sunak, Frazer publicly backed the new prime minister, tweeting this week: 'I am confident that our principled and tremendously capable PM will lead us effectively through these economically challenging times.'�#

Brief spell

The Conservative MP for South-East Cambridgeshire since 2015, she had a brief spell as transport minister during Liz Truss's premiership and was previously treasury minister and a minister in the Ministry of Justice. She has also been solicitor general and before becoming an MP was a practising barrister.

Although Frazer's specific responsibility has yet to be announced, she will join other senior colleagues in the department: Dehenna Davison, minister for levelling up, Baroness Scott of Bybrook, minister for communities, and Lee Rowley, who last month was announced as the MP replacing Eddie Hughes, taking up the housing brief.

Only this morning, former ministers Paul Scully and Andrew Stephenson were quietly removed from the department's website.