James Cleverly MP - Who is he?

James Cleverly is the home secretary, having been appointed to the role in Rishi Sunak’s November 2023 cabinet reshuffle. He replaced outgoing Home Office chief Suella Braverman.

From September 2022 to November 2023 he served as foreign secretary.

Cleverly is‌ ‌the Conservative‌ MP‌ ‌for Braintree‌,‌ ‌having‌ ‌first‌ ‌been‌ ‌elected‌ ‌to‌ ‌Parliament‌ ‌in‌ 2015. He was re‌-elected‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌2019‌ ‌General‌ ‌Election‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌majority‌ ‌of‌ 24,673 ‌over‌ ‌the Labour‌ ‌Party.‌ ‌

The Braintree constituency in Essex contains the towns of Braintree and Halstead, alongside a swathe of rural countryside in the north of Essex. Although it was held briefly by Labour between 1997 and 2005, this is traditionally a Conservative seat. Over three fifths of the electorate voted for Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.

James Cleverly was‌ ‌appointed‌ ‌Foreign Secretary in September 2022 by then-prime minister Liz Truss.

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Although, he was briefly Secretary of State for Education between July and September 2022, Cleverly has a number of years of experience in the Foreign Office. He was Minister of Europe between February and July 2022, and Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) responsible for the Middle East and North Africa between 2020 and 2022.

Cleverly was considered a long standing ally of Liz Truss. For many years, he lived in close proximity to the former prime minister in Greenwich.

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Cleverly was Chairman of the Conservative Party between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, he served as Under Secretary of State for Existing the European Union in 2019.

Born‌ ‌in 1969, James‌ Cleverly trained in the army but his training was cut short by an injury in 1989. He later joined the Territorial Army, and the Register of Members Interests details that he remains an Officer in the Reserve Forces.

After leaving the army, James went on to gain a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Thames Valley University. After graduating, James ‌worked in a sales and digital marketing capacity across the publishing sector, before later founding his own web publishing company.

Cleverly previously served on the Greater London Assembly for Bexley between 2008 and 2016, being appointed by Boris Johnson as the Mayor’s youth ambassador in 2009. A supporter of Brexit, he backed Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election.

Cleverly is married with two sons.