UK lawmaker Tulip Siddiq appointed as City Minister

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LONDON (Reuters) -Tulip Siddiq has been appointed Britain’s’ City Minister, the minister responsible for overseeing the financial services sector, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

The appointment comes after Labour won a thumping election victory last week, propelling Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.

Siddiq, 41, has led Labour’s efforts to develop policies for the financial services industry, known as ‘the City’ after the City of London financial district, since 2021.

In May she told the Financial Times Labour would push the Financial Conduct Authority, Britain’s markets regulator, to do more to remove barriers to competitiveness and growth.

New finance minister Rachel Reeves on Monday launched a new “national mission” to drive economic growth, setting out plans to increase housebuilding, unblock infrastructure projects and attract private investment.

Siddiq succeeds Bim Afolami, a former HSBC banker who held the role under the previous Conservative government.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)