Localis chief exec to advise communities secretary

The chief executive of think tank Localis, Liam Booth-Smith, has been appointed as a special adviser to the new communities and housing secretary, James Brokenshire.

Mr Booth-Smith has headed up Localis for the past two years and previously worked at the New Local Government Network (NLGN) and for consultants iMPOWER.

He announced earlier this month he was leaving Localis to join Policy Exchange as their director of policy and development, before being asked to take on the special adviser role at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Responding to the news on Twitter, the chief executive of Doncaster Council, Jo Miller said it was a ‘great appointment’ and added the Whitehall department now has a ‘team who understand #localgov and get the importance and value of placemaking, and leadership for the good of people and UK PLC’.

Speaking earlier this month, Localis chairman Sir Merrick Cockell, said the think tank had ‘become a unique and thoughtful voice’ under Mr Booth-Smith’s leadership.

An MHCLG spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that Liam Booth-Smith, Peter Cardwell and Lee Scott have been appointed as special advisors at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.’