Michael Alex Burghart (born 7 September 1977) is a British politician, academic and former teacher who has served as

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, secretary of state for ...

since 8 July 2024, and

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a position in the British Shadow Cabinet, appointed by the leader of the Opposition. The post involves holding to account the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who has control over the esta ...

since 5 November 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for

Brentwood and Ongar Brentwood and Ongar is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Burghart, a Conservative. He served from October 2022 to July 2024 as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office. His ...

since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He informally deputises for the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. Born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, Burghart studied history at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. After a period working as a history tutor at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, Burghart became a political and policy adviser to

Tim Loughton Timothy Paul Loughton, ( ; born 30 May 1962) is a British politician and former banker who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham (UK Parliament constituency), East Worthing an ...

in 2008. He then served successively as Director of Policy at the

Centre for Social Justice The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is an independent centre-right think tank based in the United Kingdom, co-founded in 2004 by Iain Duncan Smith, Tim Montgomerie, and Philippa Stroud. Political positions The organisation's stated aim is to "p ...

, Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the

Children's Commissioner for England The Office of the Children's Commissioner for England is a non-departmental public body in England responsible for promoting and protecting the Children's rights, rights of children as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Uni ...

Anne Longfield Anne Elizabeth Longfield, Baroness Longfield (born 1960) is a campaigner for children who formerly served as the Children's Commissioner for England. She was formerly chief executive of the charity 4Children. She was appointed the Children's C ...

, and a special adviser in Prime Minister Theresa May's policy team. He was elected to the House of Commons for

at the 2017 general election. Burghart served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

from 2019 to 2021 and was promoted to

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills (also known as Apprenticeships and Skills Minister) is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Education in the British government. It was held by Alex Burghart ...

in the second cabinet reshuffle of the

second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new government following the 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 general election. ...

. He resigned from this position in July 2022, criticising Johnson's handling of the

Chris Pincher scandal The Chris Pincher scandal was a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by the former Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip, Chris Pincher. In early July 2022, allegations of Pincher's ...

. Burghart was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth in September 2022 and later

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office The Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office is a junior ministerial role at the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The post is currently held by Abena Oppong-Asare and Georgia Gould (politician), Georgia Gould. History Responsibil ...

in October 2022. After the Conservative Party's defeat in the

2024 General Election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, Burghart was appointed

in the Sunak caretaker Shadow Cabinet, and was retained in the post after

Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (' Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservati ...

became leader. He also gained the additional role of

Early life and education

Alex Burghart was born on 7 September 1977 in

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

, the son of two

state school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

teachers. He was educated at the independent

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

in Somerset. Burghart studied history at

. He completed his PhD at

in 2007 entitled ''"The Mercian polity, 716–918"''.

Career

Academia

After university, Burghart taught history at

Warwick School Warwick School is a British Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent school (UK), independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school) for boys, in the market town of Warwick, in Warwickshire, England. Known as ...

before becoming a history tutor at King's College London. In 2005 he was the lead researcher for the

project on interrogating

Anglo-Saxon charters Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in England which typically made a grant of land or recorded a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s: the oldest surviving charters granted land to ...

using digital technologies.

Policy adviser

Burghart became a political and policy adviser to

, who was the then Shadow Minister for Children and Young People in 2008. He moved on to the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

, where he worked on the Munro Review of Child Protection. In 2012 Burghart became Director of Policy at the

. In February 2016 he was appointed Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the

. Later that year he became a

special adviser Special adviser may refer to: *Special adviser (Norway), a high-ranking civil servant *Special adviser (UK) A Special Adviser, also known as a SpAd, is a temporary civil servant who advises and assists UK government ministers or ministers in th ...

of Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

's policy team.

Writing

Burghart is the author of ''A Better Start in Life: Long-term approaches for the most vulnerable children'', published by

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". Policy Exchange is a registered charity; it most ...

in 2013. He has written extensively about early

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

, writing for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' for over 12 years, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' and ''

BBC History ''BBC History'' is a British magazine devoted to both British and world history, and aimed at readers of all levels of knowledge and interest. There are thirteen issues a year, one each month and a Christmas special. The magazine is published, ...

''.

Parliamentary career

Early political career

Burghart stood against Labour MP

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

Islington North Islington North is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency in Greater London established for 1885 United Kingdom general election, the 1885 general election. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of C ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. He told the ''

Islington Gazette The ''Islington Gazette'' is a weekly paid-for newspaper covering the borough of Islington in north London, England. It was established as the ''Daily Gazette'' in 1856, publishing twice weekly from 1926. It was owned by Independent News & Media ...

'' that, if elected, the first thing he would do would be to " nce a jig (and try to resuscitate Jeremy Corbyn)." Although he was not elected, Burghart came second, increasing the Conservative share of the vote from 14.2% to 17.2%. He was selected for the

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

on 28 April 2017 following the decision by Sir

Eric Pickles Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar from 1992 United ...

to stand down at the 2017 general election. At the election, Burghart was elected as MP for Brentwood and Ongar, winning 65.8% of the vote and a majority of 24,002. Burghart has been a member of the

Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom. Membership , the members of the committee are as follows: Se ...

and the

Work and Pensions Select Committee The Work and Pensions Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Work and Pen ...

. He chairs the APPG on

Adverse Childhood Experiences Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse and household dysfunction during childhood. The categories are verbal abuse, physical abuse, contact sexual abuse, a battered mother/father, household sub ...

and was made PPS to the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in July 2019. He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, Geoffrey Cox, and to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State,

Karen Bradley Dame Karen Anne Bradley (; born 12 March 1970) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament cons ...

In government

In July 2019, at the formation of the

first Johnson ministry The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited Boris Johnson to form a new government, following the resignation of the predecessor Prime Minister Theresa May. May had resigned as Leader of the Conserv ...

, Burghart was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister is a parliamentary private secretary serving the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of the office is widely viewed as the prime minister's "eyes and ears" on the backbench ...

Boris Johnson. At the 2019 general election, Burghart was re-elected as the MP for Brentwood and Ongar with an increased vote share of 68.6% and an increased majority of 29,065. On 17 September 2021, Burghart was appointed

at the

during the second

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

of the

. On 6 July 2022, Burghart resigned from government, citing Boris Johnson's handling of the

in a joint statement with fellow Ministers

Neil O'Brien Neil John O'Brien (born 6 November 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, previously Harborough, since 2017. He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary ...

Lee Rowley Lee Benjamin Rowley (born 11 September 1980) is a British politician and former management consultant who has served as chief of staff to the Leader of the Opposition since November 2024. He previously served as Minister of State for Housing, ...

and Julia Lopez. On 20 September 2022, Burghart was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth at the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

. He was appointed

on 27 October 2022, with responsibilities including the

Grenfell Tower Inquiry The Grenfell Tower Inquiry was a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Theresa May on the ...

, the Covid-19 Inquiry, the

Government Digital Service The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, tasked with transforming the provision of online public services. It was formed in April 2011 by David Camero ...

and the

Central Digital and Data Office The Central Digital and Data Office was an agency under the United Kingdom's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology which was responsible for coordinating digital, data, and technological programmes across the government, and setting ...

In opposition

At the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, Burghart was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 36.7% and a decreased majority of 5,980. Following the subsequent formation of the

Starmer ministry The Starmer ministry began on 5 July 2024 when Keir Starmer was invited by King Charles III to form a government, following the resignation of Rishi Sunak after the 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 general election. Background Star ...

, Burghart was appointed Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet. In November 2024, following

's election as Conservative Party leader, Burghart was appointed

. This appointment has led Burghart to be referred to as Badenoch's de-facto deputy by newspapers such as

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

and the National, though Burghart himself has rejected this label. According to James Heale, Burghart is seen as the primary policy figure in Badenoch's circle, being heavily influenced by the 'The Right Approach', a Conservative policy statement from 1976. He has been compared to

Keith Joseph Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, (17 January 1918 – 10 December 1994), known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a minister under f ...

(who played a similar role for Margaret Thatcher) by

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a politically conservative news website and events company. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about both social justice and a fair ...

writer William Atkinson. Burghart stood in for Badenoch at

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention in the United Kingd ...

on 20 November 2024.

Personal life

Burghart has sat on the Board of the Yarlington Housing Group and was Vice Chair of Governors at Queensmill School for children with autism. In 2012, he married the journalist and novelist

Hermione Eyre Hermione Eyre (born 1980) is a British journalist, novelist, and former child actor. Early life Hermione Eyre was born in 1980. Her parents were Sir Reginald Eyre, a British Conservative party politician, and Anne Clements. Her godmother was ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burghart, Alex 1977 births Living people People educated at Millfield Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of King's College London UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister Schoolteachers from Dorset Shadow cabinet of Kemi Badenoch