Alan Mak is the Conservative MP for Havant, having first been elected to parliament at the 2015 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Mak received 12,986 votes, representing 30.8% of the vote share. The Labour candidate, Stefanie Harvey, received 12,894 votes (30.6%), while the Reform UK candidate, John Perry, secured 9,959 votes (23.6%). Mak was duly re-elected with a narrow majority of 92 votes.

The Havant constituency is located in the south-eastern corner of Hampshire, between Portsmouth and Chichester. It includes the towns of Havant, Emsworth and Hayling Island.

It is a long-standing Conservative seat, held by the party continuously since the constituency’s creation in 1983. Mak succeeded David Willetts, who had been the MP from 1992 to 2015. The constituency boundaries remained unchanged for the 2024 general election following the 2023 review.

Political Career

Mak was appointed as shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology in November 2024, following the Conservative leadership contest and Kemi Badenoch’s elevation as Tory leader. Mak left this post following Badenoch’s July 2025 shadow ministerial reshuffle.

In a letter addressed to Badenoch, dated 22 July 2025, Mak wrote: “I am writing to confirm that I will be stepping back from my role as the shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology to enable me to focus on my constituency.

“Despite your offer of an alternative role, I feel this is the right time for me to focus locally. I wish to thank all the stakeholders and others I have worked with in my shadow cabinet role, and I look forward to continuing my interest in those issues in the future.”

During his time in the shadow cabinet, Mak was a member of Badenoch’s team dedicated to preparing her for prime minister’s questions (PMQs).

Mak served briefly as shadow economic secretary to the Treasury on the caretaker/interim shadow frontbench appointed by Rishi Sunak from July to November 2024.

Mak previously served under Sunak and Boris Johnson during the Conservative party’s tenure in government. He was parliamentary under-secretary of state for industry and economic security (at the Department for Business and Trade and Cabinet Office) from March to July 2024. He briefly served as exchequer secretary to the Treasury from July to September 2022 in the caretaker/interim government constructed after Johnson announced his resignation as prime minister.

Previously, Mak was a government whip (lord commissioner of the Treasury) from April 2021 to July 2022. Upon his appointment as a whip in 2021, he became the first British MP of ethnic Chinese origin to enter government.

Mak also served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder.

Mak was regarded as a loyalist figure during his tenure as a backbencher.

Upon his appointment as a whip, the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush wrote: “Like most of the male MPs who entered parliament in 2015, he was loyal to both David Cameron and Theresa May, and has never rebelled against the party.

“Like most loyal backbench MPs, he is a long-term specialist in parliamentary questions of the ‘does the minister agree with me that the government is a friend to fluffy kittens and socially responsible businesses?’ variety.”

Mak was a member of the procedure committee from July 2015 to November 2016.

Mak delivered his maiden speech on 9 June 2015 during a debate on the European Union Referendum Bill.

In it, he said: “For centuries, Havant’s economy prospered on the back of parchment making, brewing and manufacturing, powered by our famous watermills and natural springs. In fact, local tradition says that Havant parchment was used for Magna Carta and the Treaty of Versailles.

“In the modern era, Havant is now a world-class centre for high-quality engineering, science and technology. Multinationals such as Lockheed Martin, Colt, Pfizer and Kenwood all have substantial operations there, joining our many small businesses.”

He added: “It was my father who first inspired me into public service, because he was more used to standing at the back of all the rooms he was in. He had escaped communism and dictatorship to find freedom and opportunity here in Britain. He worked as a waiter and a bartender, standing at the back of restaurants. It was tough work, but it allowed him to save up and open a small shop up in Yorkshire with my mother.

“We lived above our shop, and much of my childhood was spent working in it. That journey from the back of the room to the front – from the shop floor to the floor of this House – sums up the spirit of the opportunity society that my family and I have cherished, and which we must safeguard for future generations.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2024: Mak 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.

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Mak supported Rishi Sunak’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.

Sunak, the former chancellor, warned against “comforting fairytales” regarding unfunded tax cuts. Although he won every round of the parliamentary ballots, securing 137 votes in the final stage, Sunak was defeated by Liz Truss in the membership vote, finishing with 60,399 votes (42.6%).

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

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.

Tory leadership 2019: Mak supported Jeremy Hunt, the then-foreign secretary, for the party’s leadership in 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to the Conservative Party.

Hunt, campaigning as a “unity candidate”, secured 77 votes from MPs in the final parliamentary round and thereby reached the final head-to-head ballot against Boris Johnson. In the subsequent vote by the party membership, Hunt finished as runner-up with 46,656 votes (33.6%) compared to Johnson’s 92,153 (66.4%).

Tory leadership 2016: Mak supported 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 Environment Network: Mak 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 Mak, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Bright Blue: Mak has been listed as a parliamentary supporter of Bright Blue, an independent centre-right think tank and membership organisation that champions liberal conservatism in the UK. Since its founding in 2014, the organisation has expanded its reach through a new cross-party strategy.

Blue Collar Conservatives: Mak was previously listed as a member of the Blue Collar Conservatives group. This faction within the Conservative party was founded in 2012 by the former cabinet minister Esther McVey, but came to greater prominence following the 2019 general election. The group aimed to “champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour”. In October 2022, McVey was succeeded by Lee Anderson as the group’s chair.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Mak supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore disagreed with a majority of his constituents, 62.6% of whom voted to Leave.

Article 50: In February 2017, Mak 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, Mak 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

Mak 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): Mak 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

Trident renewal (2016): Mak 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): Mak 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.

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Mak 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 on 19 November 1983 in York, Alan Mak grew up in the city where his parents, who migrated from Guangdong, China via Hong Kong, ran a small Chinese takeaway shop. The family lived above the shop, where Mak worked from a young age.

He attended Queen Anne comprehensive school until age 13, then received a government assisted place scholarship to attend St Peter’s school, York.

Mak read law at Peterhouse, Cambridge, winning the ECS Wade prize for administrative law. He subsequently completed a post-graduate diploma in law and business at the university of Oxford, where he was a runner-up for the Oxford leadership prize.

Before entering parliament, he worked as a corporate lawyer with the international law firm Clifford Chance in the City of London.

Personal Life

Mak married his wife, Cathy, in 2022; .

Mak identifies as Christian and is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.

Trivia

Mak has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London and is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

When first elected in 2015, he was the first person of ethnic Chinese descent elected to the House of Commons.

In May 2015, Mak told the South China Morning Post: “If the CFC and Chinese for Labour think I am going to be representing every Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Korean – and there are many in my constituency – they are mistaken.

“It’s a stupid story. I am not standing for the Chinese population of Britain. I am standing for the people of Havant and my country”.

He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, having spent time with the Royal Navy.

He won Conservative MP of the year in 2022.