TORY former energy minister Amber Rudd’s appointment to the board of British Gas’s parent company Centrica has been described by GMB as “the wrong person at the wrong time.”

The energy union, which represents thousands of gas workers, said that the ex-MP for Hastings and Rye had prioritised the market in office, leaving Britain’s energy security “in a shambles” and exposing people to price hikes as wholesale costs soar.

Ms Rudd, who served as energy and climate change secretary in David Cameron’s administration between 2015 and 2016, began her role as a non-executive director at Centrica on Monday.