RAIWAYMAN’S son Geoff Hoon has been appointed the new Transport Secretary in the Government reshuffle prompted by the decision of Ruth Kelly to leave the Cabinet.
 
The highly experienced Ashfield MP, previously Chief Whip, has spent almost a decade in the Cabinet, including the high-profile role of Defence Secretary at the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
 
He had been mentioned in connection with the Transport Secretary post, although he was thought more likely to move to Brussels to replace Peter Mandelson as EU trade commissioner.
 
The 54-year-old barrister has been an MP since 1992, and on Labour’s frontbench since 1995, when Tony Blair appointed him a trade and industry spokesman, before moving him to the Whips’ office.
 
After Labour’s 1997 General Election landslide victory, Mr Hoon became a Junior Minister in the Lord Chancellor’s Department, and had a spell in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before joining the Cabinet as Defence Secretary in 1999.

He moved to become Leader of the House of Commons after the 2005 election, left the Cabinet a year later to become Europe Minister, and returned to the top table when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007.
 
Mr Hoon, who is married with three children, has little track record in transport, as he has specialised in defence, economic policy and the EU.
 
The railway industry will be keen to discover whether he shares Ms Kelly’s recent, warmer attitude towards high-speed rail and electrification.
 
Although his public image can be appear stiff and reserved, in private he is known to be friendly and good company, eager to share his detailed knowledge of 1960s and 1970s music, and discuss the fortunes of his beloved Derby County FC.
 
Mr Hoon’s father Ernest also saw action in the RAF in World War 11, serving in India and Burma.
 
Meanwhile Ms Kelly has announced she will not stand for her Parliamentary seat at the next General Election, meaning that at the age of just 40 she has decided to leave politics completely.