Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake has pledged to fight Labour’s plans to ‘concrete over’ the North Yorkshire countryside.

His comments come in an interview with the Press following his appointment as shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government by the new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.

The move represents a promotion from his former role as shadow business secretary. Prior to that, from 2022 to July 2024, he served as minister of state for enterprise, markets and small business under Rishi Sunak.

Mr Hollinrake says he loved working in the Department of Trade but he knows the housing brief well, from being a member of the housing select committee and local government select committee for four years.

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The MP also brings experience as a former estate agent, who co-founded the Hunters Estate Agency in York in 1992, making him familiar with issues such as reforming the rental market, lettings, leaseholds and commonhold, plus planning issues.

He told the Press he has always been ‘pro-development’ but he opposed the new Labour government’s housing targets for York and North Yorkshire.

Under current rules, North Yorkshire has a target of 1,361 homes a year, but in July Labour announced this would increase to 4,232 homes a year.

The York target would increase from 1,020 homes a year to 1,251 homes a year.

The 310 percent increase for North Yorkshire he said was ‘disproportionate’ and was “a deliberate attempt to concrete over the countryside.”

“It’s a mutant algorithm they are using,” he said.

Mr Hollinrake said the North Yorkshire figure was “out of kilter” with needs, whereas York’s figures were “in the right ball park.”

“We can’t have a system that dumps all the housing in one area. It’s flawed,” he said, pledging to use “every means at his disposal” to stop something “in nobody’s interest” and would place “an unfair burden” on rural communities.

Mr Hollinrake’s responsibilities also include ‘levelling-up’, an issue he is a great supporter of. He says he is keen to work with Yorkshire’s devolved mayors including David Skaith for York and North Yorkshire and Tracey Brabin of West Yorkshire, plus Ben Houchen of the Tees Valley.

“I want to make sure there’s a much greater amount of infrastructure going to into the North of England,” he said.

This would focus on improving East-West trans-Pennine links, both road and rail.

Mr Hollinrake added the new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, whom he voted for as leader, had got off to a “very good start” with her first shadow cabinet meeting.

“She’s setting her stall out very well, taking her time to develop proper conservative policy.”

Looking ahead, Mr Hollinrake said he was keen to be re-elected in 2029 but his “number one job is to stop the [Labour] government making mistakes.”

Among them were its higher taxes, including inheritance tax on farms, he added.