Alex Burghart is the Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, having first been elected to parliament at the 2017 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Burghart received 17,731 votes in Brentwood and Ongar, representing 36.7% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Paul Godfrey, received 11,751 votes (24.3%), while the Labour candidate, Gareth Barrett, secured 11,082 votes (22.9%). Burghart was duly elected with a majority of 5,980 votes.

The Brentwood and Ongar constituency is located in Essex, bordering North East London around the M25 corridor. It includes the towns of Brentwood, Ongar, and Shenfield. It is considered a safe Conservative seat, having been held by the party continuously since its creation in 1974. Sir Eric Pickles, the former Conservative cabinet minister, served as the MP for the constituency from 1992-2017.

Political Career

Burghart currently serves as deputy leader of the Conservative Party. Burghart was appointed to this role as part of the August/September 2026 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Kemi Badenoch’s second as Conservative leader.

Burghart also serves as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland (appointed July 2024) and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (appointed November 2024).

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw the Conservatives ejected from government, Burghart served as parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office (October 2022 – July 2024) under Rishi Sunak. He briefly served as parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Work and Pensions under Liz Truss (September – October 2022).

During Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister, Burghart was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Education (responsible for apprenticeships and skills) from September 2021 until July 2022.

Burghart resigned from this post in July 2022, as part of the mass walkout of ministers that ultimately forced Boris Johnson to announce his own resignation. Notably, he resigned by way of a joint letter, co-written with Kemi Badenoch, Neil O’Brien, Lee Rowley and Julia Lopez. Like Burghart, the letter’s signatories were considered “rising stars” in the Conservative Party.

The letter read: “It has become increasingly clear that the government cannot function given the issues that have come to light and the way in which they have been handled. In good faith, we must ask that, for the good of the Party and the country, you step aside.”

https://x.com/alexburghart/status/1544673706299072514?

Burghart is seen as a close ally of Badenoch. He deputised for the Conservative leader at a session of prime minister’s questions in November 2024.

Burghart’s resignation was also notable as he had previously served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Boris Johnson from July 2019 to September 2021. A PPS acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder.

In June 2022, Burghart had publicly declared their loyalty to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, ahead of a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The vote was triggered by discontent within the parliamentary party following the “partygate” scandal and the publication of the Sue Gray report. While the prime minister ultimately won the vote, the scale of the rebellion against him, with 148 of his own MPs voting to remove him, severely weakened his authority and presaged his resignation the following month.

In a social media post at the time, Burghart stated: “The prime minister has my support – I will be voting for him today.”

Before becoming PPS to the prime minister, Burghart served as PPS to the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, and to the Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley.

He was a member of the foreign affairs select committee (November 2022 – December 2023).

Burghart delivered his maiden speech on 28 June 2017 during a debate on health, social care and security.

In it, he said: “I am honoured to stand before the House as the newly elected member for Brentwood and Ongar, that most beautiful constituency in the most beautiful county of Essex in this, our most beautiful country. At the heart of our community is the Brentwood-Shenfield-Hutton conurbation, a very hive of Thatcherite prosperity.”

Burghart’s speech also remarked on the political history of his constituency.

He added: “Let us take the peasants’ revolt of 1381, which started on the high street in Brentwood. It was a rebellion against vexatious taxation levied by a distant, overbearing government. I warn the House that my constituents’ attitude to taxation has changed very little in the intervening 636 years.”

Between 2016 and his election in 2017, he worked as a special adviser on social justice policy to prime minister Theresa May in 10 Downing Street.

Burghart previously stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for Islington North in the 2015 general election, finishing second on 8,465 votes (17.2%). He was beaten by soon-to-be Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

During the campaign, he told the Islington Gazette that he would “dance a jig (and try to resuscitate Jeremy Corbyn)” were he elected.

He added: “After that’s done I want to campaign in parliament for a raft of social policies to improve education, support local families and help more people get into work.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2024: Burghart supported Badenoch’s candidacy in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Rishi Sunak following the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election.

Badenoch, the then-shadow housing secretary, was seen as a leading figure on the party’s right wing. After finishing first in the final parliamentary ballot with 42 votes, she defeated Robert Jenrick in the membership vote on with 53,806 votes (56.5%). Badenoch was declared Conservative leader on 2 November.

https://x.com/alexburghart/status/1830689708235542825

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Burghart supported Badenoch’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Badenoch was seen as a combative culture warrior. Having gained significant momentum among the party’s right wing, she was eliminated in the fourth parliamentary ballot on 19 July after receiving 59 votes.

In an article for the Express, published July 2022, Burghart described Badenoch as “Labour’s worst nightmare.”

He added: “We need her problem-solving gusto, her candour and her integrity. We also need her broad appeal – more than one commentator has said in the past few days that she is Labour’s worst nightmare.

“This is because she is a highly articulate advocate for how our country and our values are forces for good.”

Burghart co-wrote the op-ed alongside Lopez, O’Brien and Rowley.

Burghart went on to support Liz Truss’ successful candidacy.

Tory leadership 2022 (II): Burghart supported Rishi Sunak’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s October 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Truss after just 45 days in office, following the financial and political tailspin triggered by her “mini-budget”.

Sunak, the former chancellor, had finished second to Truss in the previous contest. Unlike the summer contest, this election featured an expedited process requiring each candidate to secure at least 100 nominations from MPs to proceed. Sunak, having emerged as the clear frontrunner, was declared leader of the Conservative Party unopposed on 24 October.

https://x.com/alexburghart/status/1546612602712854529

Tory leadership 2019: Burghart supported Kit Malthouse’s candidacy for the party’s leadership in May 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to the Conservative Party. Malthouse, the then-housing minister, withdrew from the contest on 4 June, before the formal close of nominations.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Burghart supported leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 61.2% of whom voted to leave.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Burghart voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the ten-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union.

Assisted dying

Burghart voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In a statement setting out his position, issued June 2025, Burghart said that “there may be some grounds for assisted dying.”

However, he added: “This bill does not address the issues in which I have a particular interest. Similarly, there was no pre-legislative scrutiny, and the close analysis of the bill was undertaken by a subcommittee of the commons rather than a committee of the whole House.

“I also noted that the secretary of state for health – who himself has previously advocated for assisted dying – is opposed to the bill because he does not believe the NHS is capable of implementing the policy.”

In 2015, Burghart told the Islington Gazette that he was in favour of assisted dying for people with terminal conditions.

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Burghart voted against a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Foreign policy and security

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Burghart was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Before Politics

Born Michael Alex Burghart on 7 September 1977 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, his parents were state school teachers. He was educated at Millfield School, an independent school in Somerset.

He studied History at Christ Church, University of Oxford. He subsequently earned a PhD in Anglo-Saxon History from King’s College London in 2007.

After university, Burghart taught history at Warwick School and later worked as a history tutor at King’s College London. In 2008, he became a political and policy adviser to Tim Loughton MP, then Shadow Minister for Children. He later worked at the Department for Education on the Munro Review of Child Protection.

From 2012 to 2016, Burghart was director of policy at the think tank Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). He then served briefly as director of strategy and advocacy for the children’s commissioner for England before becoming a special adviser to prime minister Theresa May in 2016.

He previously served as a governor at Queensmill School for children with autism.

Personal Life

Burghart married Hermione Eyre, a journalist and novelist, in 2012. They have two children.

Trivia

Burghart holds a PhD in Anglo-Saxon History from King’s College London. His 2007 thesis was titled The Mercian polity, 716–918.

Before becoming an MP, he served as a Special Adviser in 10 Downing Street under Theresa May.

He is reported to be a boxing fan.

Between 2019 and 2021, he served as a non-executive director of New Scientist Ltd.