British politician (born 1977)
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 since 8 July 2024, and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since 5 November 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar since 2017. He informally deputises for the Leader of the Opposition.
Born in Dorset, Burghart studied history at Christ Church, Oxford. After a period working as a history tutor at King's College London, Burghart became a political and policy adviser to Tim Loughton in 2008. He then served successively as Director of Policy at the Centre for Social Justice, Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the Children's Commissioner for England Anne Longfield, and a special adviser in Prime Minister Theresa May's policy team. He was elected to the House of Commons for Brentwood and Ongar at the 2017 general election.
Burghart served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2021 and was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills in the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry. He resigned from this position in July 2022, criticising Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal. Burghart was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions and Growth in September 2022 and later Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office in October 2022.
After the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 General Election, Burghart was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Sunak caretaker Shadow Cabinet, and was retained in the post after Kemi Badenoch became leader. He also gained the additional role of Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Early life and education.
Alex Burghart was born on 7 September 1977 in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, the son of two state school teachers. He was educated at the independent Millfield School in Somerset. Burghart studied history at Christ Church, Oxford. He completed his PhD at King's College London in 2007 entitled "The Mercian polity, 716–918".
Career.
Academia.
After university, Burghart taught history at Warwick School before becoming a history tutor at King's College London. In 2005 he was the lead researcher for the King's College London project on interrogating Anglo-Saxon charters using digital technologies.
Policy adviser.
Burghart became a political and policy adviser to Tim Loughton, who was the then Shadow Minister for Children and Young People in 2008. He moved on to the Department for Education, where he worked on the Munro Review of Child Protection.
In 2012 Burghart became Director of Policy at the Centre for Social Justice. In February 2016 he was appointed Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield. Later that year he became a special adviser of Prime Minister Theresa May'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 in 2013. He has written extensively about early medieval England, writing for "The Times Literary Supplement" for over 12 years, "The Spectator" and "BBC History".
Parliamentary career.
Early political career.
Burghart stood against Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North in 2015. He told the "Islington Gazette" that, if elected, the first thing he would do would be to "[d]ance 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 Brentwood and Ongar safe seat on 28 April 2017 following the decision by Sir Eric Pickles 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 and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. He chairs the APPG on Adverse Childhood Experiences and was made PPS to the prime minister Boris Johnson in July 2019. He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, and to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Karen Bradley.
In government.
In July 2019, at the formation of the first Johnson ministry, Burghart was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister 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 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills at the Department for Education during the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.
On 6 July 2022, Burghart resigned from government, citing Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal in a joint statement with fellow Ministers Kemi Badenoch, Neil O'Brien, Lee Rowley 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. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 27 October 2022, with responsibilities including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Covid-19 Inquiry, the Government Digital Service and the Central Digital and Data Office.
In opposition.
At the 2024 general election, 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, Burghart was appointed Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet.
In November 2024, following Kemi Badenoch's election as Conservative Party leader, Burghart was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. This appointment has led Burghart to be referred to as Badenoch's de-facto deputy by newspapers such as the Guardian and the National. He stood in for Badenoch at Prime Minister's Questions 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.
References.
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