Màiri McAllan has returned to the Scottish cabinet following maternity leave with a brief to tackle the growing housing crisis in Scotland.
First minister John Swinney has appointed her housing secretary, replacing Paul McLennan in the role. A statement said he requested to leave the Scottish government.
McAllan previously, who previously held the net zero and energy brief, is tasked with addressing the national housing emergency, which was declared by the Scottish government last year, after it recognised the shortage of affordable, quality housing.
Swinney said: “Màiri McAllan has been tasked with tackling the housing emergency, including ensuring we have energy efficient homes to help bring down bills and tackle the climate emergency.
“These are two of the biggest challenges facing people across the country and I want them to know they have a government firmly on their side and focused on delivering real change.”
The cabinet reshuffle comes a week after Scottish Labour’s Davy Russell won an unexpected victory in McKelvie’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat.
McAllan, viewed by some as a potential future leader of the SNP, served as the minister for environment, biodiversity and land reform from 2021 to 2023 and as the minister for transport, net zero and just transition from 2023 until February 2024.
She went off on maternity leave last July, with Gillian Martin stepping in to cover her net zero and energy brief.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader, Rachael Hamilton said the reshuffle showed John Swinney and the Scottish government was “not only out of ideas” but “personnel too”.
She said: “For the good of the country, we need to remove John Swinney and the SNP from power at next year’s election.”
