Minister for Hospitality: Boris Johnson says Government will meet with petitioners

Boris Johnson has responded to widespread calls for a Minister for Hospitality from restaurant and pub operators, celebrity chefs and more than 200,000 of their supporters. 

The Prime Minister confirmed on Tuesday that his minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour markets, Paul Scully, will meet with the team behind the “Create a Minister for Hospitality in the UK Government” petition. 

The motion and its accompanying Seat at the Table campaign was launched by the Claire Bosi, the editor of Chef & Restaurant Magazine. The petition received backing across the hard-hit sector - from Michelin-starred celebrity chefs Tom Kerridge, Angela Hartnett and Jason Atherton to FTSE-listed bar and pub bosses - and went viral last month as the country went into a third lockdown. Many signatories said they felt their voices and concerns were not being heard in the corridors of power. 

Official petitions receiving more than 100,000 signatures are debated in Parliament, and MPs voted in support of the motion to create a Minister of Hospitality on January 11 after a 90 minute debate in Westminster Hall.

Boris Johnson’s move on Tuesday came after the Petitions Committee chair, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell, wrote a formal letter urging the Prime Minister - who had previously shrugged off invitations to meet with petitioners - to engage on the issue. 

Today McKinnell said she believes it is "essential there is a focused voice within Government to represent the hospitality sector".

The Seat at the Table campaign reacted by saying that organisers were “incredibly pleased”.

The chief executive of trade body UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, told the Standard that "there is a growing recognition of the importance of hospitality both socially and economically".