Greg Clark | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Chair of theScience, Innovation and Technology Select Committee[b] | |
| In office 29 January 2020[a] – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Norman Lamb |
| Succeeded by | Chi Onwurah |
| Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities[c] | |
| In office 7 July 2022 – 6 September 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Michael Gove |
| Succeeded by | Simon Clarke |
| In office 11 May 2015 – 14 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Eric Pickles |
| Succeeded by | Sajid Javid |
| Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy | |
| In office 14 July 2016 – 24 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Sajid Javid[d] |
| Succeeded by | Andrea Leadsom |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 15 July 2016 – 19 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Sajid Javid |
| Succeeded by | Liam Fox |
| Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities | |
| In office 15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | David Willetts |
| Succeeded by | Jo Johnson |
| Minister of State for Cities and Constitution | |
| In office 7 October 2013 – 15 July 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Chloe Smith |
| Succeeded by | Sam Gyimah |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Mark Hoban |
| Succeeded by | Sajid Javid |
| Minister of State for Decentralisation | |
| In office 13 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Nick Boles |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change | |
| In office 6 October 2008 – 11 May 2010 | |
| Leader | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ed Miliband |
| Member of Parliament forTunbridge Wells | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Archie Norman |
| Succeeded by | Mike Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gregory David Clark (1967-08-28)28 August 1967 (age 57) Middlesbrough,North Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Political party | Conservative(1988–present)[e] |
| Other political affiliations | SDP(before 1988) |
| Spouse | Helen Clark |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Royal Tunbridge Wells,Kent, England |
| Alma mater | Magdalene College, Cambridge London School of Economics |
| Website | www |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | The effectiveness of incentive payment systems: An empirical test of individualism as a boundary condition (1992) |
| |
Gregory David Clark (born 28 August 1967) is a British politician who served asSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2016 to 2019. He also wasSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2015 to 2016 andSecretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from July to September 2022.[1] Later, he was the Chair of theScience, Innovation and Technology Select Committee. A member of theConservative Party, he served asMember of Parliament (MP) forTunbridge Wells from2005 until2024.[2]
Clark was born inMiddlesbrough and studied Economics atMagdalene College, Cambridge, where he was president ofCambridge University Social Democrats. He then gained his PhD from theLondon School of Economics.[3] Clark worked as a business consultant before becoming theBBC's Controller for Commercial Policy and then Director of Policy for the Conservative Party under Conservative leadersIain Duncan Smith andMichael Howard from 2001 until his election toparliament in 2005.
Clark served in theCameron-Clegg coalition asMinister of State in theDepartment for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2012,Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2012 to 2013, andMinister of State for Cities and Constitution at theCabinet Office from 2013 to 2014. Between July 2014 and May 2015, he held the post ofMinister for Universities, Science and Cities.[4] Following the2015 general election, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron promoted Clark to theCabinet asSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government.[5] In July 2016, he was appointed asSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by new Prime MinisterTheresa May and remained in that role until 24 July 2019. He had thewhip removed on 3 September 2019, for voting against the government, before it was restored on 29 October. In May 2022, he was named as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Japan byBoris Johnson.[6] He ceased to be an MP in May 2024, when Parliament was dissolved for the2024 general election, in which he decided not to stand.[7]
Gregory Clark was born inMiddlesbrough on 28 August 1967 and attendedSt Peter's Roman Catholic School inSouth Bank. His father and grandfather were milkmen running the family business, John Clark and Sons,[8] while his mother worked atSainsbury's.[9]
Clark read Economics atMagdalene College, Cambridge. He joined theSocial Democratic Party (SDP) while at Cambridge and was an executive member of its national student wing, Social Democrat Youth and Students (SDYS) and, in 1987, president ofCambridge University Social Democrats. He then studied at theLondon School of Economics, where he was awarded hisPhD in 1992 with a thesis entitled,The effectiveness of incentive payment systems: an empirical test of individualism as a boundary condition.[10]
After leaving university, Clark first worked as a business consultant forBoston Consulting Group, before becomingspecial advisor to theSecretary of State for Trade and Industry,Ian Lang, between 1996 and 1997. Subsequently, he was appointed theBBC's Controller, Commercial Policy, and was Director of Policy for the Conservative Party from 2001 until his election toparliament in May 2005.
Between 2002 and 2005, he was a councillor onWestminster City Council, representing Warwick ward and serving as Cabinet Member for Leisure and Lifelong Learning.
Clark was selected as the Conservativeprospective parliamentary candidate forTunbridge Wells in December 2004.[11] At the2005 general election, Clark was elected as MP for Tunbridge Wells with 49.6% of the vote and a majority of 9,988.[12]
He made hismaiden speech on 9 June 2005, in which he spoke of the (then) forthcoming 400th anniversary ofDudley, Lord North's discovery of theChalybeate spring and the foundation ofRoyal Tunbridge Wells, a town to which the royal prefix was added in 1909 byKing Edward VII.[13]
Clark was appointed to the front bench in a minor reshuffle in November 2006 byDavid Cameron, becoming Shadow Minister for Charities, Voluntary Bodies and Social Enterprise. Shortly after his appointment he made headlines by saying the Conservative party needed to pay less attention to the social thinking ofWinston Churchill, and more to that of columnist onThe Guardian,Polly Toynbee.[14]
In October 2007, Clark campaigned to saveTunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital.[15] In October 2008, Clark was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, shadowing the new government position ofSecretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
At the2010 general election, Clark was re-elected as MP for Tunbridge Wells with an increased vote share of 56.2% and an increased majority of 15,576.[16]
After the election, Clark was appointed a Minister of State in theDepartment for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for overseeingdecentralisation. In this role he called for the churches and other faith communities to send him their ideas for new social innovations for all,[17] and made a major speech on "turning government upside down" jointly to the think tanksCentreForum andPolicy Exchange. He was accused of hypocrisy, having staunchly opposed house-building while in opposition, while promising to impose it as a government minister.[18]
In July 2011 he was appointed Minister for Cities.[19] In this role he tried to promote the urban economies of the North, West and Midlands.[20]
In a cabinet reshuffle in September 2012, Clark was appointedFinancial Secretary to the Treasury andCity Minister, while retaining the ministerial brief responsible for cities policy.[21]
On 15 July 2014 Clark was appointed to the role ofMinister for Universities, Science and Cities, replacingDavid Willetts.[4][22] The new portfolio combined the universities and science brief held by Willetts with the cities policy already handled by Clark.[23]
His appointment was met with concerns about securing future funding for universities[24] and questions over his public support forhomoeopathic treatments.[22]
At the2015 general election, Clark was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 58.7% and an increased majority of 22,874.[25][26] Clark returned to theDepartment of Communities and Local Government as Secretary of State on 11 May 2015.[27]
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Clark was appointedSecretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 July 2016, inTheresa May's first cabinet.[28] In October 2016, he appointed his predecessor as MP,Archie Norman, as Lead Non Executive Board Member for theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.[29]
In February 2017, Clark travelled to Paris, in order to meet executives fromPeugeot and theFrench Government, due to the proposed takeover ofVauxhall Motors.[30]
Clark was again re-elected at the snap2017 general election, with a decreased vote share of 56.9% and a decreased majority of 16,465.[31]
In May 2018, Clark suggested that 3,500 UK domestic jobs could be lost as a direct and explicit result ofBrexit. Brexiteers, such asJacob Rees-Mogg said this was a "revival of project fear". Clark argued in response that the job losses were 'substantiated' in the result of an inadequatecustoms union deal with theEuropean Union, but stated that this did not include the transition/implementation period.[32]
Clark opposed ano-deal Brexit, saying in June 2018: "People in good jobs up and down the country are looking to our national leaders to make sure a deal is approved. We are one of the world's leaders in the next generation of automotive technology. To see that slip through our fingers is something we would regret forever".[33]
In January 2019, Clark, against the advice of Theresa May, suggested he might resign from Cabinet in the event of theUnited Kingdom not securing a deal with the European Union inBrexit negotiations. At the time he was the most senior minister to do so.[34]
On 6 February 2019, Clark said to theBusiness, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee that Theresa May had until 15 February to conclude Brexit negotiations in order to provide certainty to exporters to countries such as Japan because of the length of time that goods take to arrive. TheEU-Japan free trade agreement would no longer apply to the UK in the event of ano-deal Brexit.[35]
Under the tenure of Clark, who was responsible for workers' rights nationally, his department in London reportedly did not ensure that its staff, many of whom had been outsourced, were paid at least theLondon living wage.[36][37][38] In February 2019, the staff went on strike for 26 hours.[36]
On 3 September 2019 Clark voted against the government on taking control of the House of Commons order paper to allow a bill to be debated in parliament which would stop ano-deal Brexit without explicit approval of parliament. He became an independent as the Conservative whip was withdrawn from him.[39] On 29 October, the whip was restored to 10 former Conservative ministers, including Clark.[40]
Clark was again re-elected at the2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 55.1% and a decreased majority of 14,645.[41]
Clark stood down at the2024 general election.[7]
Clark and his wife Helen have three children, two girls and a boy.[42] They live inRoyal Tunbridge Wells. He is a member of theRoman Catholic church.[43]
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