Mark Hooper handed Wales transport brief with taxi and private hire oversight

Wales’ new First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has appointed Mark Hooper as Deputy Minister for Transport as part of a reshaped Cabinet focused on delivering what the Welsh Government described as a “new direction” for the country.

The appointment places Hooper in a role carrying responsibility for several transport policy areas across Wales, including oversight of the taxi and private hire vehicle sector. The position is expected to involve working alongside ministers and local authorities on licensing, regulation, passenger safety and wider transport integration.

Taxi and private hire policy in Wales has become an increasingly important area for the Welsh Government in recent years, particularly around safeguarding standards, cross-border licensing concerns and proposals linked to transport reform. Hooper will now become the ministerial figure responsible for engagement with the sector and its stakeholders.

Announcing his Cabinet appointments, ap Iorwerth said: “This Cabinet will bring new energy, new ideas and a new direction to the way our nation is led.

New Deputy Minister for Transport will take responsibility for key areas of Welsh transport policy including the taxi and private hire sector

“United and filled with talent and experience ready to serve, my government will believe in the art of the possible, working as one team every day to improve the lives of the people of Wales.”

The First Minister added that his government would pursue “practical solutions” to issues facing communities across Wales and pledged to “repay people’s trust in us as quickly as we can”.