Alex Burghart | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
| De facto 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Oliver Dowden |
| Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| Assumed office 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Oliver Dowden |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
| Assumed office 8 July 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Hilary Benn |
| Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office | |
| In office 27 October 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Brendan Clarke-Smith |
| Succeeded by | Georgia Gould |
| Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
| In office 26 July 2019 – 16 September 2021 Serving with James Heappey (2019) &Trudy Harrison (2019–2021) | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Andrew Bowie |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Griffith Sarah Dines |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth | |
| In office 20 September 2022[a] – 27 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | Guy Opperman |
| Succeeded by | Laura Trott |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills | |
| In office 17 September 2021 – 6 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Gillian Keegan |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Member of Parliament forBrentwood and Ongar | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | SirEric Pickles |
| Majority | 5,980 (12.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1977-09-07)7 September 1977 (age 48) Wimborne Minster,Dorset, England |
| Party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford (MA) King's College London (PhD) |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Website | www.alexburghart.org.uk |
Michael Alex Burghart[1] (born 7 September 1977)[2] is a British politician, academic and former teacher who has served asShadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 8 July 2024,[3] andShadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since 5 November 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has beenMember of Parliament (MP) forBrentwood and Ongar since2017. He informally deputises for theLeader of the Opposition,Kemi Badenoch.
Born inDorset, Burghart studied history atChrist Church, Oxford. After a period working as a history tutor atKing's College London, Burghart became a political and policy adviser toTim Loughton in 2008. He then served successively as Director of Policy at theCentre for Social Justice, Director of Strategy and Advocacy for theChildren's Commissioner for EnglandAnne Longfield, and a special adviser inPrime MinisterTheresa May's policy team. He was elected to the House of Commons forBrentwood and Ongar at the2017 general election.
Burghart served as theParliamentary Private Secretary to Prime MinisterBoris Johnson from 2019 to 2021 and was promoted toParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills in thesecond cabinet reshuffle of thesecond Johnson ministry. He resigned from this position in July 2022, criticising Johnson's handling of theChris Pincher scandal. Burghart was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth in September 2022 and laterParliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office in October 2022.
After the Conservative Party's defeat in the2024 General Election, Burghart was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in theSunak caretaker Shadow Cabinet, and was retained in the post after Kemi Badenoch became leader. He also gained the additional role ofShadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Alex Burghart was born on 7 September 1977 inWimborne Minster inDorset, the son of twostate school teachers.[4][5] He was educated at the independentMillfield School in Somerset. Burghart studied history atChrist Church, Oxford. He completed his PhD atKing's College London in 2007 entitled"TheMercian polity, 716–918".[6]
After university, Burghart taught history atWarwick School before becoming a history tutor at King's College London.[7] In 2005 he was the lead researcher for theKing's College London project on interrogatingAnglo-Saxon charters using digital technologies.[8]
Burghart became a political and policy adviser toTim Loughton, who was the thenShadow Minister for Children and Young People in 2008. He moved on to theDepartment for Education, where he worked on the Munro Review of Child Protection.[9]
In 2012 Burghart became Director of Policy at theCentre for Social Justice.[10] In February 2016 he was appointed Director of Strategy and Advocacy for theChildren's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield.[11] Later that year he became aspecial adviser of Prime Minister Theresa May's policy team.[12]
Burghart is the author ofA Better Start in Life: Long-term approaches for the most vulnerable children, published byPolicy Exchange in 2013.[13] He has written extensively about earlymedieval England, writing forThe Times Literary Supplement for over 12 years,The Spectator andBBC History.[14]
Burghart stood againstLabour MPJeremy Corbyn inIslington North in2015. He told theIslington Gazette that, if elected, the first thing he would do would be to "[d]ance a jig (and try to resuscitate Jeremy Corbyn)."[15] Although he was not elected, Burghart came second, increasing the Conservative share of the vote from 14.2% to 17.2%.[16]
He was selected for theBrentwood and Ongarsafe seat on 28 April 2017 after SirEric Pickles announced that he would stand down at the2017 general election.[17] At the election, Burghart was elected as MP for Brentwood and Ongar, winning 65.8% of the vote and a majority of 24,002.[18]
Burghart has been a member of theJoint Committee on Human Rights and theWork and Pensions Select Committee. He chairs the APPG onAdverse Childhood Experiences and was made PPS to the new prime minister Boris Johnson in July 2019. He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to theAttorney General,Geoffrey Cox, and to theNorthern Ireland Secretary of State,Karen Bradley.
In July 2019, at the formation of thefirst Johnson ministry, Burghart was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
At the2019 general election, Burghart was re-elected as the MP for Brentwood and Ongar with an increased vote share of 68.6% and an increased majority of 29,065.[19]
On 17 September 2021, Burghart was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills at theDepartment for Education during the secondcabinet reshuffle of thesecond Johnson ministry.[20] On 6 July 2022, Burghart resigned from government, citing Boris Johnson's handling of theChris Pincher scandal in a joint statement with fellow MinistersKemi Badenoch,Neil O'Brien,Lee Rowley andJulia Lopez.[21]
On 20 September 2022, Burghart was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth at theDepartment for Work and Pensions. He was appointedParliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 27 October 2022, with responsibilities including theGrenfell Tower Inquiry, theCOVID-19 Inquiry, theGovernment Digital Service and theCentral Digital and Data Office.[22]
At the2024 general election, Burghart was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 36.7% and a decreased majority of 5,980.[23] Following the subsequent formation of theStarmer ministry, he was appointed Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary in Rishi Sunak'scaretaker Shadow Cabinet.
In November 2024, followingKemi Badenoch's election as Conservative Party leader, Burghart was appointedShadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He has been referred to as Badenoch's de facto deputy by newspapers such asThe Guardian andThe National,[24][25] though Burghart himself has rejected this label.[26]
According toThe Spectator, Burghart is seen as the primary policy figure in Badenoch's circle, being heavily influenced by 'The Right Approach', a Conservative policy statement from 1976.[27] He has been compared toKeith Joseph, who played a similar role forMargaret Thatcher, byConservativeHome writer William Atkinson.[28][29]
Burghart stood in for Badenoch atPrime Minister's Questions on 20 November 2024.[30]
Burghart has sat on the Board of the Yarlington Housing Group[31] and was Vice Chair of Governors atQueensmill School for children with autism.[32] In 2012, he married the journalist and novelistHermione Eyre.[33]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBrentwood and Ongar 2017–present | Incumbent |
