“If he wanted to oppose house building, he shouldn’t have accepted the job as the secretary of state for getting houses built,” Sir James said. Loading…Same headline but different storyOne opportunity Sir James did have to shadow Ms Rayner was the English Devolution & Community Empowerment Bill’s second reading on 2 September. Asked if he was concerned about gerrymandering in decisions on geographies of new unitaries, Sir James said: “just a bit”. Tough electionsThis year’s local elections saw the Conservatives decimated at county councils across the country, losing more than 670 seats and control of 17 councils. “I will keep campaigning to make sure that we get Conservatives elected, Conservatives who care about spending public money wisely.