Sir Andrew Mitchell | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Foreign Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 July 2024 – 4 November 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Lammy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Priti Patel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Foreign Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 April 2024 – 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign Secretary | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Office abolished | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Development and Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 25 October 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Anneliese Dodds[a] The Lord Collins of Highbury[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 September 2012 – 19 October 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Patrick McLoughlin | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir George Young | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for International Development | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Douglas Alexander | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Justine Greening | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 7 June 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Norman Fowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Sutton Coldfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 2,543 (5.3%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 June 1987 – 8 April 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Philip Holland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vernon Coaker | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Gedling | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Andrew John Bower Mitchell (1956-03-23)23 March 1956 (age 69) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Sharon Bennett | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent |
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| Residence(s) | Islington, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Constituency website | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sir Andrew John Bower MitchellKCMG (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who wasShadow Foreign Secretary from July to November 2024 and served asDeputy Foreign Secretary between February and July 2024. He was alsoMinister of State for Development and Africa between October 2022 and July 2024. A member of theConservative Party, he has served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forSutton Coldfield since2001 and previously served as the MP forGedling from1987 to1997. Mitchell served in theCabinet asSecretary of State for International Development from 2010 to 2012 and then briefly as GovernmentChief Whip in theHouse of Commons in late 2012.
Mitchell studied history atJesus College, Cambridge, where he was electedPresident of theCambridge Union in 1978. He was elected to theHouse of Commons forGedling inNottinghamshire at the1987 general election. He served in thesecond Major government as aLord Commissioner of the Treasury from 1994 to 1995 and as a junior minister at theDepartment of Social Security from 1995 to 1997. Mitchell lost his seat to theLabour Party'sVernon Coaker at the1997 general election. In2001, he contestedSutton Coldfield in theWest Midlands, asafe seat for the Conservatives, and was returned to Parliament. Mitchell was appointed to theShadow cabinet in 2005 asShadow Secretary of State for International Development. In this role, he founded Project Umubano, a Conservative Party social action project inRwanda andSierra Leone in central and west Africa.
Under thecoalition government ofDavid Cameron, he served asSecretary of State for International Development from 2010 to 2012. In theSeptember 2012 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed chief whip. Amid public pressure due to thePlebgate scandal, Mitchell resigned from the government the following month, and returned to thebackbenches. In 2022, after serving on the backbenches for 10 years, Mitchell made a return to government asMinister of State for Development and Africa following the appointment ofRishi Sunak as prime minister. He was appointed to the honorific title of Deputy Foreign Secretary in April 2024. After the defeat of the Conservative party in the2024 general election, Mitchell becameShadow Foreign Secretary in theShadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak.
Mitchell was born atHampstead in north London, the son of SirDavid Bower Mitchell, a future Conservative MP of 33 years, and Government Minister. He was educated atAshdown House School andRugby School, where—as a self-confessed "stern disciplinarian"—he earned the nickname "Thrasher".[1]
In February 1975, he joined theRoyal Tank Regiment as asecond lieutenant on a Short Service Limited Commission (a commission designed for teenagers applying to Oxford or Cambridge University after leaving the sixth form), spending time inCyprus where his unit was carrying out peacekeeping duties.[2][3] In October of that year, he transferred to theTerritorial and Army Volunteer Reserve. He resigned his commission on 9 February 1977.[4]
He went to theUniversity of Cambridge, where he read History atJesus College. He was Chairman of theCambridge University Conservative Association in theMichaelmas Term of 1977. He served as President of theCambridge Union 1978–79,[5] after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978, later proceeding toMaster of Arts.[6]
Mitchell worked forLazard, the investment bank, where he worked with British companies seeking large-scale overseas contracts.[7]
Mitchell was the only Conservative member ofIslington Health Authority (IHA) in north London during the 1980s and, in that capacity, he called for the IHA to make greater use ofcompetitive tendering in the allocation of service contracts.[8]
After unsuccessfully contestingSunderland South at the1983 general election, Mitchell entered Parliament in 1987 at the age of 31 as MP forGedling, Nottinghamshire, serving in theHouse of Commons concurrently with his father until 1997. In 1988, under Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher, he becamePPS toWilliam Waldegrave, who was Minister of State at theForeign and Commonwealth Office. In 1990, he became PPS toJohn Wakeham, who wasSecretary of State for Energy. In 1992, underJohn Major, he became Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, and in the same year was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip. In 1993, he became a Government Whip. In 1995, he becameParliamentary Under-Secretary of State at theDepartment of Social Security, a position he held until 1997.
Mitchell lost his Commons seat withTony Blair'sLabour victory at the1997 election. He was returned to Parliament at the2001 election as the MP forSutton Coldfield, near Birmingham. He held no shadow ministerial or organisational position under the leadership ofIain Duncan Smith, but in November 2003, under new leaderMichael Howard, he became Shadow Economic Affairs Minister. In 2004, he became Shadow Home Office Minister, primarily dealing with police matters.
In May 2005, Mitchell was appointed to theShadow Cabinet asShadow Secretary of State for International Development. Following Howard's decision to stand down as leader following the Conservatives'2005 general election defeat, Mitchell ran the unsuccessful leadership campaign ofDavid Davis, but retained his Shadow Cabinet position under the winner of the leadership election,David Cameron.[citation needed]
Mitchell led groups of Conservative volunteers from the professions in social development projects inRwanda for three consecutive summers, from 2007 to 2009, as part of Project Umubano,[9] and kept a detailed diary of their activities and experiences.[10][11] The volunteers focused on five areas: health, education, justice, the private sector, and a community centre construction project.[12] In 2008, Mitchell himself taught English to over a thousand Rwandan primary school teachers.[13] It was during one of these trips that Mitchell and his aides are reported to have verbally abused one of the volunteers, a student journalist who had circulated a draft newspaper article she had written stressing the positives of the project, but also pointing out some problems with its operation. The journalist, Lucy Kinder, claimed Mitchell texted her father, a friend from Mitchell's university days: "They [his aides] are threatening her with physical violence and I can't say I blame them".[14][15]
Mitchell expressed support for the idea of a televised appeal forGaza on the BBC in 2009, a subject which had aroused much controversy on both sides of the argument. He said that, while the matter was ultimately for the BBC to decide, "We believe that they should allow the broadcast to proceed so that the British public, who have proved themselves so generous during recent emergencies in the Congo and Burma, can make their own judgement on the validity of the appeal".[16]
Following the resignation ofBaroness Warsi during the2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Mitchell criticised repeated Israeli attacks on UN schools and called for an arms embargo, warning that the misery suffered by an "enormous number of innocent people" was poisoning attitudes.[17]
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Following thegeneral election and formation of theConservative – Liberal Democrat coalition in May 2010, he becameSecretary of State for International Development.
Mitchell travelled to countries in need of aid. He visitedPakistan during the floods in 2010 and returned the following year. He also visitedHaiti, to see the effects of the earthquake, andSomalia andLibya in 2011. He also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 to press the case for greater support for the developing world, strongly criticised the developed world for failing in its responsibilities towards it, and announced that Britain would double its aid contribution to Pakistan.[18]
Both in Opposition and Government, Mitchell asserted the need for transparency and value for money in British aid contributions to the developing world, with resources concentrated on the world's poorest and most troubled countries.[19]
During the2011 Battle of Tripoli, Mitchell said that the UK had learnedfrom Iraq and had laid the groundwork for a post-Gaddafi Libya. While emphasising that the transition should be Libyan-led, he said that Libya's allies had outlined steps to ensure a smooth transition. He added, "We have made clear that there should be no revenge attacks," and, "Libyans have to work together for a new Libya. They should keep in place the sinews of security. TheNational Transitional Council (NTC) inBenghazi has good informal connections with security officials inTripoli and has told them: 'You've got a job, please help us keep stability'." He added that "Divisions between the rebels groups are overstated. The way the National Transitional Council has reached out gives us some confidence."[20]
Mitchell accepted that a smaller aid budget might have meant fewer cuts elsewhere, but insisted that development projects also helped protect Britain. "Our security is not just provided by soldiers and tanks and fighter jets, it is also provided by training the police in Afghanistan, by building up governance structures in the Middle East and by getting girls into school in the Horn of Africa," he said, "Those things are all part of what makes us safer."[21]
On 1 July 2010, at the end of a debate on global poverty in the House of Commons,[22][23] the minister of state for international development,Alan Duncan, quoted the journalistJon Snow as having said, "Andrew Mitchell is unquestionably the best prepared Secretary of State – nobody has waited longer in the wings and everyone in the sector knows of his commitment to the sector".
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Both in Opposition, and later as Secretary of State for International Development, Mitchell repeatedly asserted the need for transparency in aid donations to other countries, with contributions fully accounted for and published, and announced his intention for Britain to lead the world in this transparency.[24] He made clear that value for money in aid donations was of critical importance and provided a guarantee that British legislation would be amended to ensure that Britain's aid contributions would be maintained at 0.7 per cent of UK GNI (Gross National Income) by 2013.[25] He also asked former international envoy and Liberal Democrat leaderPaddy Ashdown to conduct a review of the UK's response to international humanitarian disasters, such as the2010 Haiti earthquake, to see whether lessons could be learned from them.[26]
On his final day as International Development Secretary, Mitchell authorised the payment of £16 million of previously suspended aid to Rwanda, half of Britain's annual aid to Rwanda. The aid had been suspended in July, along with other governments' aid, over concerns about Rwanda's alleged support of the rebelMarch 23 Movement ineast Democratic Republic of the Congo.[27][28] Mitchell's successor stopped further aid payments as Rwanda had breached agreements,[29] and following the publication of aUnited Nations Security Council investigators' report which provided evidence that Rwanda had supplied guns, money and recruits to the rebels contrary toUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1807,[30] and engaged directly in combat to help the rebels capture territory.[31]
TheInternational Development Select Committee launched an inquiry into the suspending, then subsequent authorisation, of budget support to Rwanda.[32] On 30 November 2012 the committee published its report criticising Mitchell for restoring the funding, stating "We do not understand how [Mitchell] reached the conclusion that support for the M23 had ceased", which was one of the three conditions that the prime minister had set for the resumption of aid.[33][34]
In September 2012, Mitchell was appointed GovernmentChief Whip inDavid Cameron's first significantCabinet reshuffle.
On the evening of 19 September, Mitchell allegedly swore when a police officer told him to dismount from a bicycle and exitDowning Street through the pedestrian gate rather than the main gate. The leaked official police log of the incident stated that Mitchell said "Best you learn your fucking place. You don't run this fucking government...You're fuckingplebs".[35] The allegations became known in the media as "Plebgate".[36]
Mitchell's alleged comments attracted strong criticism from some branches of thePolice Federation, and from police officers in general, not least because they came on the day after themurder of two police officers in Manchester.[37]
In response to the allegations, Mitchell apologised, but disputed many of the details of the accusations, in particular that he had used the word "pleb". He later resigned on 19 October.[36]
In December 2012,CCTV evidence was published in the media which appeared to contradict the police account of the incident, along with evidence that an email corroborating the police account and purporting to be sent by a member of the public to their MP was actually sent by an off-duty police officer who was not at the scene. Additionally, a claim byPolice Federation officers from theWest Midlands Police who met Mitchell that he refused to give his side of events was contradicted by a recording of the meeting, made by Mitchell himself, and subsequently released to the media.[38] TheMetropolitan Police investigation of both the leak of the police log and the discrepancies between it and other accounts was known asOperation Alice.
Mitchell strongly disputed the police account of the incident in statements to the media, and in an article inThe Sunday Times alleged the police officers were involved in a "cynical smear campaign".[39]
Operation Alice resulted in one police officer, Constable Keith Wallis, being charged with misconduct in a public office, for sending an email in which he falsely claimed to be an ordinary member of the public who had witnessed the alleged incident from the public footpath outside the Downing Street gates. On 10 January 2014, Wallis pleaded guilty to the charge. Wallis was dismissed from the police force and three other police officers who were involved in aspects of 'Plebgate' were dismissed for gross misconduct.[40] Following Wallis' conviction, Mitchell received a public apology from the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,Bernard Hogan-Howe, and fellow MPs called for him to be reappointed to the cabinet.[41][42]
Mitchell launched acivillibel case against UK newspaperThe Sun, which had first published reports of the affair. He was countersued by PC Toby Rowland, the officer who had been on duty at the Downing Street gate. On 27 November 2014,Mr Justice Mitting ruled against Mitchell, describing his behaviour as childish and saying: "I am satisfied at least on the balance of probabilities that Mr Mitchell did speak the words alleged or something so close to them as to amount to the same including the politically toxic word pleb". In consequence, Mitchell lost the libel cases against bothThe Sun and PC Rowland and became liable for both parties' costs, which were estimated at £2m. Mitchell said he was "bitterly disappointed".[43] On 30 January 2015, court papers revealed that News Group newspapers offered a deal on 19 September 2014 which would have allowed Mitchell to avoid liability for the legal costs incurred by the media organisation up to that date. However, the offer did not include any apology from the publisher and Mitchell turned it down. The media organisation's legal costs subsequently increased by at least £500,000.[44]
PC Rowland successfully sued Mitchell for libel and agreed to accept a payment of £80,000 in damages.[45][46]
Speaking in January 2018, to the Jesus College, Cambridge, Debating Society, Mitchell expressed the belief thatLabour would win the next general election andJeremy Corbyn would become the next prime minister. Mitchell explained that this was a prospect he regarded with apprehension, and speculated that under a Labour Government borrowing andtaxation would increase drastically.[47]
In October 2018, Mitchell said that by supporting theSaudi coalition "Britain is complicit in creating" afamine in Yemen.[48]
On 31 January 2022, afterBoris Johnson issued a statement to the house about the interim report bySue Gray, into thePartygate scandal, Mitchell announced that he no longer supported the prime minister.[49] Mitchell had previously been one of Johnson's longest supporters. In 1993, Johnson attempted to stand as a Conservative candidate in the1994 European Parliament elections. Mitchell convinced Prime MinisterJohn Major, who was critical of Johnson, not to veto Johnson's candidacy, but Johnson could not find a constituency.[50]
After serving on the backbenches for over a decade, Mitchell returned to the government under Prime MinisterRishi Sunak and was appointed to a cabinet attending role asMinister of State for Development and Africa in theSunak ministry.[51]
Following theNovember 2023 British cabinet reshuffle, former prime ministerDavid Cameron becameForeign Secretary, which left Mitchell as the most senior foreign office official in the House of Commons.[52] Because of this, Mitchell was appointed to the honorific title of Deputy Foreign Secretary on 12 April 2024.[53]
Following the Conservative party's defeat in the2024 general election, Cameron resigned from the frontbench and Mitchell was appointed to what would have been Cameron's positionShadow Foreign Secretary in theShadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak.[54][55]
Following the election ofKemi Badenoch asLeader of the Opposition in November 2024, Mitchell was replaced as Shadow Foreign Secretary byDame Priti Patel and left theShadow Cabinet.[56]
In 2002, Mitchell led the successful Keep Justice Local campaign across his constituency of Sutton Coldfield to safeguard the 50-year-old Magistrates' Court from closure. He presented a petition signed by more than 5,500 constituents, protesting at plans to transfer the court's work to Birmingham.[57]
However, its closure was again announced in December 2010 by the government in which Mitchell was by then a minister. He said, "We must now ensure that there's a widespread local discussion about the future of the site and the building. I know that our councillors are already looking at how best we can do this".[58] The site was subsequently sold to the Sutton Coldfield Muslim Association in 2012 and converted into aMasjid.[59]
In 1994, as MP forGedling, Mitchell voted in the House of Commons for the restoration of the death penalty; the motion was defeated 383–186.[60] Between 2001 and 2010, as MP forSutton Coldfield, his House of Commons voting record shows that he voted for limiting climate change, civil partnerships for gay couples, greater autonomy for schools, a UK referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty, replacement of Trident, the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent Iraq investigation, and limiting pollution from civil aviation. During the same period, he voted against ID cards, the closure of post offices, both 42 days' and 90 days' detention without charge or trial, the DNA database, closer EU integration, the relaxation of gambling laws,Section 28 (although in 1988 he had voted in favour),[61] employment discrimination against gay people, the legalisation of recreational drugs, a fully elected House of Lords, and a ban on fox hunting.[62]
In 2013 Mitchell voted against the legalisation of same-sex marriage and also voted for an amendment to the bill which would have allowed a government registrar to opt out of performing marriage ceremonies 'to which he had a conscientious objection'.[62] He was ranked by theLiberal Democrat Voice (connected to, but not part of, the Liberal Democrat Party) as one of the least authoritarian members of Parliament, scoring 3 out of 100 points for his votes between 2005 and 2010.[63] with a joint ranking of 542 out of 619.[64]
Mitchell supported continued membership of theEuropean Union in the2016 referendum.[65]
An article inThe Sunday Times newspaper on 30 October 2010, quoted byThe Guardian newspaper the following day, claimed that Mitchell had pressured the Foreign Office and colleagues to lobby Ghana (successfully) for the lifting of a trading ban on a cocoa company,Armajaro, which had been a repeated donor to Mitchell's parliamentary office and also a donor to the Conservative Party. Ghana had imposed the ban as the company was believed to have beensmuggling cocoa out of the country. However, when questioned byITV News on 2 November about his role in the case, Mitchell said that he had a duty as a member of the government to respond to the company's requests, as it was registered as a British company, and that the government had a responsibility to promote British trade. He argued that he had seen no evidence that the Ghanaian government's suspicions about the company in question had been substantiated, and that the claim that he had acted improperly on behalf of a party donor was unreasonable, as the company had ceased to donate to both the Conservative Party and his parliamentary office several years earlier.[66][67]
In 2006, Mitchell invested funds in privately owned firms implicated in a tax avoidance scheme.[68] According toThe Daily Telegraph, a subsidiary of DV3 purchased the lease on the Dickins & Jones department store building in central London for £65.1 million and sold it a month later to a partnership controlled by DV3 for £65,100, thus avoiding stamp duty.[68] The loophole, although legal, was reported byThe Times to be considered "aggressive tax avoidance" byRevenue & Customs.[69]
Mitchell is married to Dr Sharon Bennett, aGP and a former dentist,[70] and has two daughters, born December 1987 and December 1990.[71] He maintains a residence in his constituency ofSutton Coldfield and primarily lives inIslington, London.[72] In the 1980s, he lived atTithby inRushcliffe, west ofLangar.[73][74] He married in August 1985 atSt Bartholomew-the-Great, in central London.[75]
Mitchell is a trustee of International Inspiration – a charity that promotes access to sport, play and physical exercise in low and middle income countries around the world.[76] He sits on the Board of Trustees alongsideSebastian Coe,Katherine Grainger andDavid Davies.
Mitchell was previously a trustee of the E. M. Radiation Research Trust,[77] now known as the Radiation Research Trust,[78] which conducts research into radiation emissions, from sites such as mobile phone masts. He was also a senior strategy adviser for consultantsAccenture. He is alsoFreeman of the City of London and aLiveryman of theVintners' Company.
In 2010, Mitchell was sworn in as aPrivy Councillor. On 11 April 2025, Mitchell was appointed a Knight Commander of theOrder of Saint Michael and Saint George in former prime ministerRishi Sunak's Resignation Honours list.[79]
Mitchell is a member of the Burgundianbacchanalian fraternity, theConfrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.[80]
In April 2025, Mitchell was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the2024 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours byRishi Sunak "for political and public service".[81]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGedling 1987–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSutton Coldfield 2001–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for International Development 2010–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons 2012 | Succeeded by |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 2012 | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Development 2022–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Foreign Secretary 2024 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Conservative Chief Whip of theHouse of Commons 2012 | Succeeded by |
| Ministers of overseas development | .svg) | |
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| Secretaries of state for international development | ||
| Ministers of state for development | ||
* Served as Minister for (Overseas) Development as aminister of state at theForeign Office | ||
| Cabinet members | | |
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| Also attended meetings | ||
| Departures | ||
