Business minister Mark Prisk, MP for Hertford and Stortford, has been appointed the new housing minister following Grant Shapps' promotion to the cabinet as Tory co-chair.

Mr Prisk - a chartered surveyor by profession - is currently a minister for Business and Enterprise in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) - a position he has held since 2010.

The appointment will see Prisk move over to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Prior to becoming an MP, he worked in the property industry and ran his own consultancy business for a number of years. He also spent two years as a surveyor at Knight Frank.

Elected as an MP in 2001, Prisk, 50, has presented Private Members' Bills to help the self employed and to protect Green Belt land.

Listed among Mr Prisk's records of achievement on the Conservative Party website, he cites his campaign against Labour’s regional housing plan for East Herts and adds that he helped ensure that a Conservative Government would scrap regional plans, which it did through the Localism Bill.

He lives with his wife Lesley in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. In his spare time he enjoys watching rugby and cricket and singing with the Parliament Choir.