Simon Allford said urgent action was required on economic uncertainty and the climate crisis
RIBA president Simon Allford has said the resignation of Boris Johnson is an opportunity for the Conservative Party to “take stock and refocus on priorities”.
Johnson announced he was quitting as Tory leader yesterday after more than 50 MPs resigned from the government in two days.
The prime minister has said he intends to stay in Number 10 until the autumn, with a timetable for a leadership contest to replace him due to be announced next week.
Allford said: “Amidst all the uncertainty, the climate crisis and its implications on the built environment - urgent action is required. This is an opportunity for a new leader to step up and take that action.
“From improving the sustainability, safety and quality of our buildings to addressing the housing crisis, architects have a key role to play.
“We will be reaching out to the new leader and their ministers as soon as they are in post - encouraging them to draw on the expertise in our industry, to help make our buildings and communities fit for the future.”
Johnson has appointed an interim cabinet which includes new housing and levelling up secretary Greg Clark and education secretary James Cleverly.
The new ministers will face the same issues which have blighted Johnson’s premiership in recent months, including rampant inflation and a slowing economy.
Angus Duguid, regional commercial business leader at architect HKS said the interim cabinet and the next leader need to focus on stabilising inflation to provide certainty about the viability of schemes both in the private and public sectors.
“Delivering many aspects of government policy, whether building new hospitals, delivering thousands of new homes or creating infrastructure to help ‘level up’ the economy needs a flourishing property and construction industry.
“Although we can continue to plan for tightening of economic conditions, uncertainty is still the biggest risk.”
He added that the new government should look at reducing the insurance burden which is “pricing practices out of the public sector and reducing opportunities for innovation and growth across the industry”.
Conservative MPs who are tipped to stand in the leadership election include former health secretary Sajid Javid, foreign secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak. Attorney general Suella Braverman has already confirmed she will stand.
Others considering throwing their hat into the ring include former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, defence secretary Ben Wallace, transport secretary Grant Shapps and chairman of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat.
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