Nick Raynsford appointed deputy chairman of CIC

The Construction Industry Council has appointed former construction minister Nick Raynsford MP as its deputy chairman. Raynsford will serve for a year until succeeding Stuart Henderson as chairman for a two-year term starting in June 2006.

Raynsford served as a government minister throughout the 1997-2001 and 2001-2005 parliaments. He was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the DETR from 1997 to 1999 before becoming minister for housing and planning from 1999 to 2001 - throughout this time he had direct ministerial responsibility for the construction industry.

From 2001 to 2005 he was minister for local government and the regions at the DTLR and then the office of the deputy prime minister. Following the recent general election, in which he retained Greenwich and Woolwich with a majority of more than 10,000, he stepped down from government.

Nick Raynsford said: “I am looking forward to renewing my strategic involvement with the construction industry and its major organisations through this appointment with the CIC. I relish the challenge of working with Stuart Henderson and colleagues to continue the industry’s improvement as a major sector of the economy over the next four years.”

CIC chief executive, Graham Watts, added: “This is a significant step in a repositioning of CIC as a key interface between government and the industry. I hope this will preface a period in which industry and government are more joined-up in their mutual desire to enhance our built environment and improve public services.”