Grant Shapps is the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. For most of his ministerial career, though, Shapps was Secretary of State for Transport – a position he held in Boris Johnson’s government from 2019 until 2022.
Shapps is also the local MP for Welwyn Hatfield, a seat he has held since the 2005 general election.
Born in Hertfordshire in 1968, Shapps studied Business and Finance in Manchester and founded his own printing company at the age of 21. He is married with three children.
Shapps has an interest in electric cars and owns a Tesla Model 3. He also holds a pilot’s licence and lists ‘general aviation’ as a pastime. Interestingly, his cousin is Mick Jones, lead guitarist in legendary punk band, The Clash.
Grant Shapps on electric cars
Shapps took delivery of his then-£44,000 Tesla Model 3 in 2019, having been on the waiting list for two years. In an interview with Peter Tarry for the Sunday Times Magazine, he explained why he bought an EV:
“I’d never driven a Tesla, but knew I wanted to go electric. I’m a bit of a geek and always ahead on gadgets. My phone, for instance, was wireless charging before wireless chargers were commonplace.
“I ordered a Tesla Model 3 with self-driving function (a £5,800 option). Tesla has promised that it will upload the AI (artificial intelligence) for it later in the year. As well as the potential to speed up, slow down and change lane, it will also stop at traffic lights, T-junctions and so on.“
Proving he’s a man of varied taste (and indeed judgement), Shapps has also owned a Chrysler Crossfire and Grand Voyager, plus a “wonderful” Lotus Elan M100.
Grant Shapps on the petrol and diesel ban
As Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps said he wanted to “normalise electric cars as being the way forward”.
In late 2020, he announced the ending of new petrol and diesel car sales in the UK by 2030. He introduced green number plates to mark out electric vehicles soon afterwards.
His government’s plan will also see all non-hybrid cars and vans banned from sale after 2035.
Justifying the bringing forward of the petrol and diesel ban, Grant Shapps said: “The UK is going further and faster than any other major economy to decarbonise transport, harnessing the power of clean, green technology to end the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050.”
Grant Shapps on EV charging
In November 2021, Grant Shapps revealed the design for what he hopes will become the UK’s “iconic” EV chargepoint.
He said: “We want to make electric cars the new normal, and ensuring drivers have convenient places to charge is key to that.”
However, while he pledged a further £300 million of funding for EV charging infrastructure, this generosity no longer extends to the purchase of electric cars. The government announced in summer 2022 that the £1,500 Plug-in Car Grant had ended with immediate effect.
Grant Shapps on smart motorways
The national rollout of smart motorways has been put on hold after they were linked with an increase in the number of deaths and a 20-fold increase in the number of near-misses.
Speaking in the House of Commons in 2020, Shapps said: “The stretch of the M20 and all other stretches that are currently being worked on will not be opened until we have the outcome of the stocktake.
“The question is, are smart motorways less safe than the rest of the motorway network? For me, the answer is that we must make them at least as safe, if not safer, otherwise they can’t continue.”
A final fact about Grant Shapps? His karaoke speciality is apparently Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. So now you know.
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Grant Shapps is unfit to be an MP. He should have been sacked from government long ago for being consistently incompetent. Chocolate and teapot are two words associated with Grant Shapps.