Thanks to the power of the internet, I note that the job title of the Government’s transport head honcho has changed more than my own over the past 20 years, with four different incarnations since I joined C&SC in 1996. If you count the people with responsibility for transport who came under the umbrella of John Prescott’s role as Biggest Ever Job Title, then since then it would seem that I have seen off 15 of the buggers ranging from the brilliantly named Geoff Hoon (that’s nominative determinism if ever I saw it) to my local MP Justine Greening, who made the mistake of standing up for her constituents over the third runway at Heathrow and was rapidly shuffled elsewhere.
Most of them have had a fairly benign effect on our hobby, one or two snootily implying that they have rather more important things to be dealing with. More important for them, perhaps! Truth be told, more impact on the classic car world seems to have emanated from the Treasury. That said, I have had dealings with many transport secretaries, or at least their offices and minions or press releases.
