Ben Obese-Jecty is the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Obese-Jecty won 18,257 votes, representing 35.1% of the vote. The Labour candidate, Alex Bulat, received 16,758 votes (32.2%), while the Reform UK candidate, Sarah Smith, secured 8,039 votes (15.4%). Obese-Jecty was duly elected with a majority of 1,499.

The Huntingdon constituency is located in Cambridgeshire in the East of England region. The seat has been held by the Conservative Party since 1945, and was represented by former prime minister Sir John Major from 1983 to 2001.

Political Career

Obese-Jecty currently serves as shadow parliamentary under secretary of state for defence. He was appointed to this role as part of the August/September 2026 shadow ministerial reshuffle, Kemi Badenoch’s second as Conservative leader.

Obese-Jecty served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the shadow defence and shadow justice teams on the Conservative frontbench from July 2025 to September 2026. In this capacity, Obese-Jecty served as a PPS to Robert Jenrick during his tenure as shadow justice secretary. Following Jenrick’s defection to Reform UK, Obese-Jecty said he never considered his former boss “to be a potential party leader for a second.”

He added: “A man of no principles, who’ll say whatever he thinks will help his own career. He’ll fit right in with Nigel.”

In January 2026, Obese-Jecty condemned the president of the United States, Donald Trump, for remarks suggesting Nato troops stayed away from the frontlines during the War in Afghanistan.

Obese-Jecty stated: “I served in Afghanistan. I saw first hand the sacrifices made by British soldiers I served alongside in Sangin where we suffered horrific casualties, as did the US Marines the following year.

“I don’t believe US military personnel share the view of President Trump; his words do them a disservice as our closest military allies.

“It’s sad to see our nation’s sacrifice, and that of our NATO partners, held so cheaply by the president of the United States.”

Obese-Jecty previously served as an opposition assistant whip (2024-2025).

Obese-Jecty has sat as a member of the House of Commons work and pensions committee (2025).

Obese-Jecty is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for the armed forces (vice chair), the armed forces community, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Commemoration, Ghana, phasing out animal experiments in medical research and prostate cancer.

Obese-Jecty delivered his maiden speech on 22 July 2024, during a debate on the economy, welfare and public services.

In it, he said: “Huntingdon’s rich history is also characterised by an inextricable link to service via its long relationship with military aviation, initially through the Royal Flying Corps and subsequently during the second world war through RAF Bomber Command’s Pathfinder force and the United States army air force’s 303rd bombardment group…

“I know well how important it is to support our veterans’ community and to commit to improving veterans’ welfare. Having undergone the process myself, the transition from service to civilian life has its challenges, and there are many stories of both success and failure.”

He added: “Parliament is well-placed to champion veterans’ welfare and, given the debt our democracy owes to those who have served so proudly, I hope we can collectively ensure that the finest armed forces in the world are treated here as the finest veterans in the world.”

Obese-Jecty previously stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in the 2019 general election.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Tory leadership 2024: Obese-Jecty supported Kemi 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 with 53,806 votes (56.5%). Badenoch was declared Conservative leader on 2 November.

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Environment Network: Obese-Jecty is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Obese-Jecty, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Obese-Jecty voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-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

Obese-Jecty 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Obese-Jecty 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.

Before Politics

Benjamin Obese-Jecty was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, London, in September 1979.

He attended Tiffin School and studied business economics at Kingston University, graduating in 2001.

Obese-Jecty later trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in December 2004 and served for nine years in the infantry, reaching the rank of captain.

Obese-Jecty’s service included operational tours in Basra, Iraq, and in Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, mentoring the Afghan National Army. He moved to the Army Reserve in December 2012.

After leaving the army, Obese-Jecty worked in the financial services sector. He obtained a diploma in management accounting in 2012.

From 2021 to 2024, he served as a member on the veterans advisory and pension committee.

Personal Life

Obese-Jecty is of Ghanaian and English heritage. His father was Ghanaian and arrived in the UK at the age of four. He worked as a chartered surveyor.

Obese-Jecty experienced homelessness after his father lost his business in the 1992 recession.

Trivia

Obese-Jecty was one of 26 new Conservative MPs elected to parliament in 2024.

In an October 2024 commons debate to mark Black History Month, Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babrinde shared an anecdote about being frequently mistaken for Obese-Jecty. He recalled an encounter in Portcullis House during their first weeks in parliament when Obese-Jecty approached him, introducing himself and noting that three people had already mistaken him for Babarinde.

Babarinde joked that the confusion had not happened in reverse – but he was mistaken for Obese-Jecty later that same day.

The case of mistaken identity even extended to Babarinde’s own Eastbourne constituency during the Eastbourne International Airshow, where a constituent approached him to praise his “distinguished career in the armed forces” – a reference to Obese-Jecty’s military background rather than his own.