Baroness Blake CBE appointed Fire Minister at MHCLG

Photograph © House of Lords/Photography by Roger Harris (CC BY 3.0, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145781729)

Judith Blake, Baroness Blake of Leeds, joined the opposition front bench in May 2021 as a Shadow Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government and an Opposition Whip. In December that year, she became Shadow Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and International Trade before being named Shadow Spokesperson for Energy and Net Zero and Shadow Spokesperson for Business and Trade two years later.

On 11 July 2024, Judith Blake (former leader of Leeds City Council from 2015 until 2021) became a Baroness-In-Waiting (Government Whip) in the House of Lords.

The Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Resilience is directly responsible for building safety, regulations, the Building Safety Regulator and remediation, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry response, fire policy and operations, the Grenfell community, Grenfell Tower and the forthcoming Grenfell Memorial, ‘Net Zero’ and energy efficiency, resilience, recovery, and emergencies and planning casework as well being the Government’s spokesperson for equalities.

One of Baroness Blake’s key responsibilities is focused on co-ordinating the national response from Westminster in the face of the recent and widespread wildfires, including blazes that have destroyed residential properties in the West Midlands and prompted the Prime Minister to describe Great Britain as a “tinderbox”.

The National Fire Chiefs Council has reported that Fire and Rescue Services operating in England and Wales have responded to no fewer than 1,132 wildfires between 1 January and 16 August this year. That surpasses the 1,017 recorded wildfires for the entirety of 2025.