Sir Robert Buckland | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Third Church Estates Commissioner | |
| Assumed office 14 March 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Flora Winfield |
| Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee | |
| In office 28 November 2023 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Simon Hoare |
| Succeeded by | Tonia Antoniazzi |
| Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 7 July 2022 – 25 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | Simon Hart |
| Succeeded by | David T. C. Davies |
| In office 24 July 2019 – 15 September 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | David Gauke |
| Succeeded by | Dominic Raab |
| Minister of State for Prisons and Probation | |
| In office 9 May 2019 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Rory Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Lucy Frazer |
| Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
| In office 15 July 2014 – 9 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Oliver Heald |
| Succeeded by | Lucy Frazer |
| Member of Parliament forSouth Swindon | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Anne Snelgrove |
| Succeeded by | Heidi Alexander |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert James Buckland (1968-09-22)22 September 1968 (age 57) Llanelli, Wales |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Wroughton,Wiltshire, England |
| Education | St Michael's School, Llanelli |
| Alma mater | Inns of Court School of Law Hatfield College, Durham (LLB) |
| Profession | Barrister, recorder |
| Website | robertbuckland |
Sir Robert James Buckland (born 22 September 1968) is a British politician who served asLord Chancellor andSecretary of State for Justice from 2019 to 2021, and asSecretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. A member of theConservative Party, he was first elected as themember of Parliament (MP) forSouth Swindon in 2010, until losing the seat until the2024 general election.
Buckland wasSolicitor General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2019 andMinister of State for Prisons from May to July 2019. He was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor byBoris Johnson in July 2019, serving until thecabinet reshuffle in September 2021. In July 2022, following themass resignation of ministers from the Johnson government, he was appointed Secretary of State for Wales by Johnson, and continued to serve in the position underLiz Truss; he resigned from the role when new Prime MinisterRishi Sunak took office in October 2022.
Before entering politics, Buckland was abarrister practicing in Wales, and also sat as arecorder (a type of part-time judge) in theCrown Court. He was appointedhonorary canon ofBristol Cathedral in 2024. After losing his seat as an MP, he was appointed as theChurch of England'sThird Church Estates Commissioner in 2025.
Robert Buckland was born on 22 September 1968 inLlanelli, Wales. He was educated at Old Road County Primary School (Welsh:Ysgol yr Hen Heol) and then privately atSt Michael's School, Llanelli (Welsh:Ysgol Sant Mihangel).
In 1990, he graduated inlaw fromHatfield College,University of Durham, where he was Secretary of theJunior Common Room and President of theDurham Union Society inMichaelmas term 1989.[1] He wascalled to the bar in 1991 at theInner Temple.[2]
Buckland practised as a barrister in Wales from 1992 to 2010,[3] specialising in criminal law at theCrown Court in Swansea, Cardiff, Merthyr and Newport.[4] He was appointed as a recorder in 2009, sitting as a part-time judge in the Crown Court.[4] He was appointedQueen's Counsel in 2014 on becoming Solicitor General and was elected as aMaster of the Bench of Inner Temple.[5]
Buckland stood as theConservative Party candidate forElli ward onDyfed County Council in May 1993, winning the seat fromLabour with a majority of just 3 votes. It was reported that he was the first Conservative "in living memory" to have been elected in the Llanelli area.[6] Following local government reorganisation, the Elli ward became part of the unitaryCarmarthenshire County Council and Buckland stood again in 1995, losing to the Labour candidate by over 200 votes.[7]
At the1994 European Parliament election, Buckland stood inSouth Wales West, coming second with 12.2% of the vote behind the Labour candidateDavid Morris.[8]
In 1995, Buckland stood in the1995 Islwyn by-election, coming fourth with 3.9% of the vote.[9]
Buckland stood inPreseli Pembrokeshire at the1997 general election, coming second with 27.7% of the vote behind the Labour candidateJackie Lawrence.[10][11]
He was on the Conservative Party list of candidates forWales at the1999 European elections, but was not elected.[12]
At the2005 general election, Buckland stood inSouth Swindon, coming second with 37.2% of the vote behind the Labour candidateAnne Snelgrove.[13]
Buckland was elected to Parliament as MP forSouth Swindon at the2010 general election with 41.8% of the vote and a majority of 3,544.[14][15]
In 2010, Buckland was elected to theJustice Select Committee. In 2012, along with fellow Tory MPStuart Andrew, he called for prisoners' mobile phones to be destroyed or sold to raise money for victims' charities, saying that mobiles in prison were a "menace" and that selling them would provide a service to the country, as it costs £20,000 a year to store criminals' phones. They were both supported byParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Legal Aid and Legal ServicesJeremy Wright andShadow Secretary of State for JusticeSadiq Khan.[16]
On 4 December 2012, Buckland was elected Joint Secretary of the1922 Backbench Committee. He was also Chair of the Conservative Human Rights Commission from 2011 to 2014. He sat on theStandards Committee and thePrivileges Committee from 2012 to 2014. He also served on the Joint Committee on Human Rights from 2013 to 2014 and the Joint Committee on Privacy and Superinjunctions which was convened from 2011 to 2012.[17]
On 15 July 2014, Buckland was appointedSolicitor General for England and Wales, replacingOliver Heald as part of a wide-ranging Government reshuffle.[18]
His appointment asSolicitor General for England and Wales in July 2014 attracted media attention after it was revealed he had been found guilty of professional misconduct by theBar Standards Board in 2011. He had led an investigation in 2008 into a racially motivated attack at a school at which he was a governor. Despite having no legal grounds to do so, Buckland sought to obtain documents relating to the incident that were held by a barrister representing one of the pupils involved.[19] In response, theattorney general's office stated that Buckland's breach had been "minor" and that the finding "was removed from the Bar records after two years and therefore Mr Buckland was not required to declare it upon appointment as Solicitor General."[20]
In February 2015, it was reported that Buckland was one of a number of individuals investing in the Invicta Film Partnership, whichHM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had alleged to be atax avoidance scheme. This followed a tax tribunal that had ruled that two film partnership schemes were being used primarily for tax avoidance rather than for business purposes and that the investors were not therefore entitled to the claimed tax relief. Buckland responded that he had not attempted to avoid tax and his investments were a matter of public record. He argued his financial adviser had looked into the companies and found them to be completely beyond reproach.[21]
At the2015 general election, Buckland was re-elected as MP for South Swindon with an increased vote share of 46.2% and an increased majority of 5,785.[22]
In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, Buckland was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.[23]
In 2016 it was reported that his preference was to remain in the EU, though Buckland never publicly stated this.[24]
At the snap2017 general election, Buckland was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 48.4% and a decreased majority of 2,464.[25]
In May 2019, Buckland was appointed asMinister of State for Prisons and Probation at theMinistry of Justice in succession toRory Stewart, who had been appointed asSecretary of State for International Development. Buckland was replaced asSolicitor General for England and Wales byLucy Frazer.
On 24 July 2019, Buckland was appointedJustice Secretary andLord Chancellor by incoming Prime MinisterBoris Johnson. He was sworn in as a Member of thePrivy Council the next day.[26]
He said that he had considerable relevant experience[27] and expressed an intention to "help drive through a massive programme of change".[28]
A week after being sworn-in, in an interview forThe Times newspaper, he expressed the opinion that suspects accused of serious crimes should be granted anonymity if the accusations threatened their reputation, stating "let's say you are a reputable local business person who is accused of fraud. Your good name is going to be really undermined by this mere accusation. That might be a meritorious case for anonymity".[29] In response to the interview, Ian Murray, director of theSociety of Editors, said it was "absurd to suggest that in a liberal democracy we are going to create a system of justice that enables the rich, the powerful and celebrities to be protected when they are under investigation for serious crimes but the ordinary man or woman would be offered no such protections." Buckland's opinion was rejected by a Government spokesman, who confirmed "this is not government policy", and theMinistry of Justice, which confirmed "this isn't departmental policy" and stated that Buckland would not be giving further interviews on the subject, which would now be handled by Downing Street.[30]
In theHouse of Commons, Buckland sat on the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art, Statutory Instruments (Select and Joint Committees), Standards and Privileges Committee, Privacy and Injunctions (Joint Committee), Consolidation Bills (Joint Committee), Justice Committee and Human Rights (Joint Committee).[31]
At the 2019Conservative Party Conference, Buckland set out plans to ensure that sexual and violent offenders would be required to serve two-thirds of their custodial sentence in prison, as opposed to half.[32]
Buckland was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 52.3% and an increased majority of 6,625.[33][34]
In January 2020, Buckland announced he wished to open a new prison in Wales, despite the recent withdrawal of plans for a 1,600 prisoner "category C super-prison" inPort Talbot.[26] The proposal came after the announcement of Boris Johnson's plan to create a further 10,000 prison places in England and Wales.[35] The BBC at the time citedCardiff University andWales Governance Centre research which found Wales had "the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe".[26]
In September 2020, Buckland stated onThe Andrew Marr Show that he would resign only if theUK Internal Market Bill broke the law "in a way I find unacceptable". Buckland defended plans to potentially override theBrexit withdrawal agreement as an emergency "insurance policy". He said he hoped powers being sought by ministers in the Internal Market Bill would never be needed, as a solution could be found with the EU.[36]
Buckland oversaw a UK prison management response to theCOVID-19 pandemic which increased the time prisoners spent in their cells, but achieved what were seen as low infection rates.[37]
On 15 September 2021, Buckland was dismissed as Justice Secretary after Johnsonreshuffled his cabinet.[38]
He was reinstated into Johnson's cabinet on 7 July 2022 when he succeededSimon Hart asSecretary of State for Wales.[39]
On 13 August, Buckland wrote an article inThe Daily Telegraph, changing his support fromRishi Sunak toLiz Truss in theJuly–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election after disagreements with the former about theproposed British Bill of Rights.[40]
On 6 September 2022, he was re-appointed by Prime Minister Liz Truss.[41] It was reported that he declined to take up the role ofSecretary of State for Northern Ireland. As Welsh Secretary, Buckland played a role in the proceedings following thedeath of Queen Elizabeth II, attending theAccession Council and the proclamation of accession ofKing Charles III atCardiff Castle.
At the 2022 Conservative Party Conference, Buckland stated his view that benefits should be uprated in line with inflation, amid a public debate on the matter, along with fellow cabinet ministersPenny Mordaunt andChloe Smith.
On 25 October 2022, Buckland stood down from the Government uponRishi Sunak's appointment as Prime Minister. He subsequently returned to the backbenches.
After leaving the role of Welsh Secretary, Buckland accepted an appointment to lead a review into boosting employment opportunities for autistic people on behalf of the Government and theDepartment for Work and Pensions in 2023.[42]
TheNovember 2023 cabinet reshuffle sawSimon Hoare, the chair of theNorthern Ireland Affairs Committee, made a local government minister, with Buckland announcing his intention to run to replace him as chairman. In the event, Buckland was elected unopposed.
Buckland lost his Swindon seat to Labour in the2024 general election.[43] He was the first Conservative incumbent candidate to lose in the election night.
On 25 February 2025, it was announced that Buckland would be the nextThird Church Estates Commissioner, one of the senior lay people in theChurch of England who has an automatic seat on theGeneral Synod.[44] The Third Church Estates Commissioner chairs two committees: the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee, and the Bishoprics and Cathedrals Committee.[45] He took up the post on 14 March 2025.[44]
Buckland is married to Sian, whom he met at university. They had twins in 2002, and live inWroughton in his former constituency. Buckland's interests include music, wine, political history and watching rugby and cricket.[46][47] Buckland has a cat, named "Mrs Landingham" after a character onThe West Wing.[48]
In January 2013, Buckland was awarded the "Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award" under the Social Driving category for his extensive work on advocating awareness at Parliament for children with special educational needs, including those withautism, both locally and nationally.[49]
Buckland was appointedKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the2022 Political Honours and was invested by KingCharles III in November 2022.[50]
Buckland is anAnglican Christian, and was made alay canon ofBristol Cathedral in March 2024.[51]
A FINE feline has a new home thanks to South Swindon MP Robert Buckland.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSwindon South 2010–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Solicitor General for England and Wales 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Prisons 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Justice 2019–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 2019–2021 | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Wales 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain andSecretary of State for Constitutional Affairs 2003–2007 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain andSecretary of State for Justice 2007–present | ||
Johnson cabinets | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Cabinet members | | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attended meetings | ||
| Departures | ||
| 1964–1970 | | |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–1974 | ||
| 1974–1979 | ||
| 1979–1997 | ||
| 1997–2010 | ||
| 2010–2024 | ||
| 2024–present | ||
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg)
