Battle lines up for design minister role

John Battle was this week poised to take on design as part of his ministerial portfolio at the Department of Trade and Industry. There had been no formal announcement from the new Labour Government as Design Week went to press.

The Labour MP had previously been a Labour spokesman on energy and has been given a DTI role covering manufacturing, services, science and technology.

Barbara Roche transfers her brief for small businesses from the opposition benches to her new role as a junior minister at the DTI, working under President of the Board of Trade Margaret Beckett. Adam Ingram, who was formerly shadow spokesman on design, becomes a junior minister at the Northern Ireland office.

The Industry Forum, credited with pushing design up Labour’s agenda, will continue its work, says its chairman Gerald Frankel.

See News Analysis, page 7