Sir James Cleverly is the Conservative MP for Braintree, and was first elected at the 2015 general election.  

A senior Conservative MP, Cleverly served in several cabinet posts during the party’s latest tenure in government, including as foreign secretary and home secretary. He contested the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election, reaching the final ballot of MPs before being eliminated.

In the 2024 general election, Cleverly won 17,414 votes, representing 35.5% of the vote. The Labour candidate, Matthew Wright, received 13,744 votes (28.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, Richard Thomson, secured 11,346 votes (23.1%). Cleverly was duly elected with a majority of 3,670 votes.

The Braintree constituency is located in Essex and includes the towns of Braintree and Halstead, as well as surrounding rural areas. It is considered a traditionally Conservative seat, although it was held by Labour between 1997 and 2005. The MP before Cleverly was Conservative member Brooks Newmark, who served as a minister in the 2010-2015 parliament.

Cleverly was knighted in April 2025 for political and public service.  

Political Career

Cleverly left the Conservative frontbench as part of the August/September 2026 shadow cabinet reshuffle conducted by Kemi Badenoch. He served as shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government from July 2025 to August 2026.

Cleverly returned to the backbenches upon announcing he intended to stand as a candidate in the 2028 London mayoral election.

In an article for the Times newspaper, Cleverly wrote: “I am putting myself forward to be the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, because our capital needs more than an administrator.”

He added: “We must rebuild its reputation and make it, once again, the best place in the world to live, work, invest and build a business.”

Cleverly held a series of senior cabinet positions in Conservative governments between 2022 and 2024. He served as home secretary from November 2023 to July 2024, and prior to that was foreign secretary from September 2022 to November 2023 under prime ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Cleverly was briefly education secretary between July and September 2022, during Boris Johnson’s final months in office.

Cleverly ran to be leader of the Conservative Party in the 2024 leadership election. Having established himself as a frontrunner following a strong performance at Conservative Party’s annual conference, he was unexpectedly eliminated from the contest in the final ballot of Tory MPs. He secured the support of 37 MPs in that ballot, down two from the penultimate round – when he topped the vote. Cleverly had gained an extra 18 MPs in the wake of conference season, reflecting a widely praised speech to Conservative activists and parliamentarians.

In that address, Cleverly argued that the Conservatives should become “more normal”, urging his party to become “enthusiastic, relatable, positive [and] optimistic.”

Contemporary theories linked Cleverly’s inability to reach the final round, the crucial membership voting stage, to attempts from his supporters to try and engineer an ideal opponent: by backing a rival candidate that they considered to be the “least worst” option or the “most beatable” candidate.

Ultimately, Robert Jenrick and eventual winner Kemi Badenoch advanced to the membership voting stage.

In November 2024, the day before the outcome of the contest was announced, Cleverly ruled out a return to the frontbench under the party’s new leader. He told the Financial Times he had been “liberated” from 16 years on the political front line and was now “not particularly in the mood to be boxed back into a narrow band again”.

In the same interview, Cleverly left the door open to a future bid to become leader of the Conservative Party, saying he would not “rule anything in or anything out”. Cleverly later returned to the frontbench as part of Badenoch’s first reshuffle as leader.

Before entering the cabinet, Cleverly held ministerial roles at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), serving as minister of state for Europe and North America in 2022, and minister of state for the Middle East, North Africa and North America from February 2020 until February 2022.

Cleverly was minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office from July 2019 to February 2020, concurrently serving as co-chairman of the Conservative Party alongside Ben Elliot.

Cleverly’s first ministerial role was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Exiting the European Union from April to July 2019, during Theresa May’s tenure as prime minister. He was also deputy chairman of the Conservative Party between 2018 and 2019.  

After May announced she would step down in June 2019, Cleverly declared his intention to stand for Conservative leader. However, he withdrew from the contest a week later. In a statement issued at the time, Cleverly said his bid reflected the need “to deliver Brexit and then quickly move the conversation on to other important issues that face the country.”

Prior to withdrawing, Cleverly attracted three public backers, namely Colin Clark, Julian Knight and Stephen Metcalfe.

As a backbench MP, Cleverly described Conservative 2017 general election campaign as “lazy”, “hopeless” and “bitter”. Speaking to Conservative activists at an event in Westminster, hosted by the Bright Blue think tank, he said: “It was in many respects a hopeless general election campaign and I mean hopeless in both senses of the word.

“It quite clearly did not accomplish what we hoped and expected to accomplish which was a solid working Conservative majority.

“But I also mean it was hopeless in the other sense of the word. It was devoid of hope. There was no sunny uplands. There was no light at the end of the the tunnel. It was a big spoon of bitter medicine with no sugar on top.”

Cleverly served on the House of Commons international trade committee between from 2016 to 2017.

Cleverly is listed as a member and chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for listed properties.

Cleverly delivered his maiden speech on 10 June 2015 during a debate on climate change.

In it, he said: “Braintree has pre-Roman roots and was a medieval market town, but came into its own in the 16th century when Flemish weavers came to the town and brought with them their state of the art weaving techniques, heralding 250 years of future prosperity. Blooming foreigners!”

He added: “We live in an increasingly competitive global economy and we, as a nation, must rise to that challenge or be swept aside. The challenge from former colonial countries now competing and in some cases overtaking us cannot be ignored.

“Throughout our nation’s history we have been at our best when we are globally focused on international trade – when we are indeed a nation of shopkeepers.”

Prior to entering parliament, Cleverly was a member of the London Assembly representing Bexley and Bromley from 2008 to 2016. He then became leader of the Conservative Party in the assembly, serving from 2011-2012.

During this time, Cleverly served as the mayor of London’s youth ambassador – being appointed in 2009, chairman of the London waste and recycling board between 2010 to 2012, and chairman of the London fire and emergency planning authority from 2012 until 2015. During his time in London politics, Cleverly is considered to have grown close to the then-mayor, Boris Johnson. Cleverly would carry this loyalty into parliament and cabinet.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Cleverly supported Liz Truss’ 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.

Truss, the then-foreign secretary, campaigned on a platform of sweeping tax cuts. After finishing second in the final parliamentary ballot with 113 votes, she won the subsequent vote of the party membership with 81,326 votes (57.4%) and was appointed prime minister on 6 September.

An early backer, Cleverly publicly expressed his support for Truss before the first ballot of MPs. Setting out his support in a social media video, Cleverly celebrated the fact Truss has always “championed Conservative values [such as] hard work, individual freedom, lower taxes [and] efficient government.”

In the midst of the mini-budget fallout, Cleverly described the fiscal measures as necessary but “bitter-tasting medicine”. Speaking to Times Radio on 5 October, he said: “A number of people aren’t used to hearing about the stimulating effects of tax cuts and the growth effects of deregulating.

“Quite understandably they are reacting. People don’t necessarily like bitter-tasting medicine but it will make us all collectively, economically feel better.”

Considered a Boris Johnson ally, he backed the former prime minister in the October 2022 leadership election triggered by Truss’ downfall. At the time, Johnson claimed to have secured the 100 nominations required to proceed. However, he announced his withdrawal on 23 October, stating that “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”

Cleverly subsequently switched his support to Rishi Sunak.

In June 2022, during the contest precipitated by Johnson’s unceremonious downfall, Cleverly said he would be “comfortable” with the former PM joining Truss’ cabinet.

He told Sky News: “He’s an incredibly talented politician. Whether he would want to serve after the bruising that he’s got at [the] moment that might be another matter, but it’s not for me to start dictating to Liz who she puts into her cabinet.

“I’ve worked with him for years, I’ve supported him and I continue to regard him as incredible, effective politician.”

Johnson confidence vote: In June 2022, Cleverly publicly declared their loyalty to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, ahead of a Conservative “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.

Tory leadership 2019: Upon withdrawing from the 2019 contest, Cleverly supported Boris Johnson. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to the Conservative Party.

Johnson, the former foreign secretary and mayor of London, campaigned on the central pledge to “deliver Brexit” by 31 October 2019, “deal or no deal”. He thereby positioned himself as the candidate best-placed to break the parliamentary deadlock. Johnson secured 114 votes in the first parliamentary ballot, and reached 160 votes in the final MP round. In the subsequent ballot of the party membership, Johnson won a decisive victory with 92,153 votes (66.4%).

Tory leadership 2016: Cleverly supported Theresa May for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The contest was triggered by the resignation of David Cameron following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

May, the then-home secretary, secured a commanding lead in the parliamentary stages, receiving 165 votes in the first ballot and 199 in the second. Following the withdrawal of her final rival, Andrea Leadsom, on 11 July, May was declared leader unopposed and was appointed prime minister two days later.

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Way Forward: Cleverly has been associated with the Conservative Way Forward (CWF) grouping of Thatcherite MPs. CWF was founded in 1991 by supporters of Margaret Thatcher, aiming to “defend and build upon [her] achievements… and to adapt the principles of her era in government to modern concerns and challenges”. In July 2022, the group was relaunched by Tory MP Steve Baker.

Brexit and Europe

Cleverly campaigned for Leave in the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 61.5% of whom also voted to Leave.

Leave Means Leave: Cleverly was a supporter of Leave Means Leave, a cross-party eurosceptic pressure group established in the aftermath of the 2016 EU referendum. The group, which described itself as “the campaign for a clean Brexit”, set out its opposition to any withdrawal agreement that it believed would keep the UK tied to EU rules and institutions – a position often referred to as a “hard Brexit”.

In February 2017, Cleverly voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Cleverly 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

Cleverly 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 January 2025, he proposed an amendment to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, then under consideration, aiming to prevent assisted dying if the applicant’s primary motivation was feeling like a burden to others.

At the time, he told The Times newspaper: “The right to die must not become the duty to die. The state should not assist someone to end their life if they do so because they feel they are a burden.

“My amendment will make it clear that feeling like a burden is not a reason for assisted dying and that doctors and judges should safeguard against that risk.”

Speaking in the third reading debate on the proposed legislation, Cleverly said he was sympathetic to the “underlying motivation” of the bill, which he defined as an attempt to “ease suffering in others and try to avoid suffering where possible”.

However, he went on to outline his opposition – which he said came from his position as a humanist, rather than “any religious viewpoint”. He added: “I come at this from a position neither of faith, nor of ignorance, and I hope that the House will take those factors into consideration when I say what I am about to say.”

Cleverly described the bill as providing a “blank cheque” to make “fundamental changes”, and raised concerns about “coercion”

He added: “There are certain communities, and certain people in those communities, particularly women, who are overly deferential to men and to men in authority. Can we genuinely say that we have no fear whatsoever about a potentially vulnerable woman sitting in front of a medical professional who raises assisted dying?”

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Cleverly voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Cleverly voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Before Politics

Born James Spencer Cleverly on 4 September 1969 in Lewisham, London, his mother was a midwife from Sierra Leone and his father was a surveyor from Wiltshire. He grew up partly in Chelmsford, Essex. He was educated at Riverston School and Colfe’s School.  

Cleverly studied hospitality management at Ealing College of Higher Education, graduating in 1991.  

After graduating, Cleverly worked in magazine and digital publishing for companies including Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen, Informa, Crimson Publishing, and Caspian Publishing. In 2007, he co-founded a web publishing company called Point and Fire.  

Cleverly joined the Army but his initial officer training at Sandhurst was cut short by a leg injury in 1989. He was commissioned into the Army Reserve in 1991. He was promoted to lieutenant later that year, to captain in 1998, and to major in 2003. He was the battery commander of 266 (Para) Battery Royal Artillery (Volunteers) until 2005.

He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2015. He currently serves with 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Artillery, working as a Staff Officer in 1st (UK) Division.

Personal Life

Cleverly married Susannah Sparks (known as Susie) in 2000. The couple have two sons and live in Blackheath, London.  

His cousin Chris Cleverly is a lawyer and businessman

Trivia

Cleverly holds the Territorial Decoration (TD) and the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) for his military service.  

In 2019, Cleverly was criticised for claiming the 19th-century anti-slavery MP William Wilberforce was a Tory when he was an independent.

https://x.com/JamesCleverly/status/1156976369831686151

In 2010, during his time on the London Assembly, Cleverly called Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes a “dick” in a post to Twitter (now X). He wrote: “We may be coalition partners but it doesn’t stop me thinking Simon Hughes is a dick.”

Cleverly was responding to Hughes’ suggestion that backbench MPs should have a veto on the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s policies. He sent the tweet as the coalition marked its 100th day in office.

Writing on his blog, in a post titled “Oh do shut up Simon”, Cleverly also described Hughes as a “fool” and said his idea was “bone-headed”.

He added: “He may well reflect the views of a number of Lib Dem MPs who haven’t reconciled themselves to the fact that coalition means compromise. But, as I have said before, a Lib Dem who isn’t prepared to enter a coalition with anyone except Labour isn’t a Lib Dem. They’re Labour…

“If Hughes feels it impossible to work with the Conservatives and his own front bench Lib Dem colleagues why not just bugger off to Labour and let the serious politicians get on with it?”

Cleverly first revealed he had leadership ambitions in a wide-ranging 2015 interview on BBC Radio 5 Live – in which he also revealed he had watched online porn and smoked cannabis. The MP, elected only months prior, answered “yes” when asked whether he had watched online porn or ever done drugs.

“I had a little dabble with marijuana at university”, he said. Asked who should become Tory party leader when David Cameron, the then-prime minister, stood down, he replied: “Me.”

In the three-minute interview, Cleverly also said he did not believe in God.

In July 2024, Cleverly confirmed “rumours” he is a fan of Warhammer 40k.

https://x.com/JamesCleverly/status/1811339260550627795

https://x.com/JamesCleverly/status/163753939676839937