No Minster of the Horse under new government

No Minister of the Horse will be appointed by the coalition government, but the responsibility will be shared by farming minister Jim Paice and under-secretary Lord Henley.

Mr Paice will have responsibility for most of the equine portfolio, including animal health, passports and alternatives to Labour’s unpopular horse tax.

Lord Henley’s brief will include hunting.

A former farmer, Mr Paice is described by the horse industry as “a positive choice”.

He became a parliamentary private secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1997 and was appointed Shadow Minister for Agriculture in September 2004.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (10 June, 2010)

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