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Steve Barclay

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The Right Honourable
Steve Barclay
MP
Official portrait, 2023
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded bySteve Reed
Succeeded byVictoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
13 November 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byThérèse Coffey
Succeeded bySteve Reed
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In office
25 October 2022 – 13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byThérèse Coffey
Succeeded byVictoria Atkins
In office
5 July 2022 – 6 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySajid Javid
Succeeded byThérèse Coffey
Downing Street Chief of Staff
In office
5 February 2022 – 5 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byDan Rosenfield
Succeeded byMark Fullbrook
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
15 September 2021 – 5 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byMichael Gove
Succeeded byKit Malthouse
Minister for the Cabinet Office
In office
15 September 2021 – 8 February 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byMichael Gove
Succeeded byMichael Ellis
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
13 February 2020 – 15 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byRishi Sunak
Succeeded bySimon Clarke
Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
In office
16 November 2018 – 31 January 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byDominic Raab
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Junior ministerial offices
2016-2018
Minister of State for Health
In office
9 January 2018 – 16 November 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byPhilip Dunne
Succeeded byStephen Hammond
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office
14 June 2017 – 9 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded bySimon Kirby
Succeeded byJohn Glen
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
17 July 2016 – 14 June 2017
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byGeorge Hollingbery
Succeeded byDavid Rutley
Member of Parliament
for North East Cambridgeshire
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byMalcolm Moss
Majority7,189 (18.4%)
Personal details
Born
Stephen Paul Barclay

(1972-05-03) 3 May 1972 (age 52)
Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseKaren Barclay
Children2
EducationKing Edward VII School, Lytham
Alma materPeterhouse, Cambridge
Signature
Websitestevebarclay.net
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service1991
RankSecond lieutenant
UnitRoyal Regiment of Fusiliers

Stephen Paul Barclay (born 3 May 1972)[1][2] is a British politician who served in various cabinet positions under prime ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak between 2018 and 2024, lastly as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Cambridgeshire since 2010, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from July to November 2024.[3]

Born in Lancashire and privately educated at King Edward VII School, Lytham, Barclay attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served in the British Army on a gap year commission. He then read history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, before qualifying as a solicitor through the College of Law. He worked in the financial sector while being active in the Conservative Party and unsuccessfully contested Manchester Blackley in 1997 and Lancaster and Wyre in 2001. Elected at the 2010 general election, he served as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from 2016 to 2017 and Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2017 to 2018. After the 2018 cabinet reshuffle, he became Minister of State for Health.

Barclay was appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union by Theresa May following the resignation of Dominic Raab in November 2018. He was retained in the position by Boris Johnson and remained in office until the United Kingdom officially left the EU on 31 January 2020. Barclay quickly returned to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle. He was later promoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle. In February 2022, Barclay also assumed the responsibilities of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, following the resignation of Dan Rosenfield. In July 2022, he became Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the resignation of Sajid Javid; he was removed from the position by Johnson's successor Liz Truss in September 2022. In October 2022, following Truss's resignation, he was reappointed to the role by new prime minister Rishi Sunak. He was later appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle.

Early life and education

[edit]

Stephen Barclay was born on 3 May 1972 in Lytham, Lancashire.[4] His father worked in IT for 55 years, during which he was seconded for three years to the company's staff association, which later became the Banking and Insurance Union. His mother worked full-time as a civil service administrator.[5] He is the youngest of three brothers.[6]

Barclay was educated at King Edward VII School, an independent school in Lytham St Annes. After completing his A levels, he joined the British Army on a gap year commission. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he was granted a short service limited commission as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on 6 April 1991.[7] After five months of service, he resigned his commission on 7 September 1991.[8]

After his gap year, he read history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1994.[4] He then studied at the College of Law at its Chester campus, to qualify as a solicitor in 1998.[5]

Early career

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Barclay completed his training contract with a large London law firm before working successively at Axa Insurance, the Financial Services Authority, and Barclays.[9]

After leaving university in 1994, Barclay joined the Conservative Party, when he was a member of the Conservative A-List.[10]

In 2007, Barclay took over as organiser of the Carlton Club political dinner, which raises funds for the Conservative Party's target seats.[9]

Parliamentary career

[edit]

Barclay stood in Manchester Blackley at the 1997 general election, coming second with 15.3% of the vote behind the Labour candidate Graham Stringer.[11]

He stood in Lancaster and Wyre at the 2001 general election, coming second with 42.2% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Hilton Dawson.[12]

At the 2010 general election, Barclay was elected to Parliament as MP for North East Cambridgeshire with 51.4% of the vote and a majority of 16,425.[13]

ConservativeHome named him in September 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any substantive rebellions.[14]

Barclay was re-elected as MP for North East Cambridgeshire at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 55.1% and an increased majority of 16,874.[15] He was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 64.4% and an increased majority of 21,270.[16]

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

[edit]

Barclay was appointed as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in November 2018 following the resignation of Dominic Raab. It was reported that Barclay would focus on the domestic preparations rather than negotiations for Brexit.[17] He retained his role as Brexit Secretary in Boris Johnson's first and second cabinets.[18]

At the 2019 general election, Barclay was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 72.5% and an increased majority of 29,993.[19]

He ceased to be Brexit Secretary at 11:00 pm on 31 January 2020, the moment the Department for Exiting the European Union was closed down as the UK formally left the EU.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

[edit]

Barclay was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in February 2020, replacing Rishi Sunak who had been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer following the resignation of Sajid Javid.

In May 2020, Barclay appeared on BBC's Question Time and was corrected by presenter Fiona Bruce about the number of people who had received the Government's COVID-19 testing.[20]

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Downing Street Chief of Staff

[edit]

In a cabinet reshuffle on 15 September 2021, Barclay succeeded Michael Gove as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office.[21]

On 5 February 2022, Barclay was appointed by Johnson as his new Chief of Staff,[22] following the resignation of Dan Rosenfield.[23] He became the first serving MP to hold this position. He said he would pursue a "smaller state" in his new role.[24] Barclay ceased to hold either office after his appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Health Secretary

[edit]

First term (2022)

[edit]

On 5 July 2022, Barclay was appointed Health Secretary after Sajid Javid's resignation on 3 July.[25] According to the editor of the Health Service Journal "never has a politician arrived in the post of health secretary trailing a worse reputation among NHS leaders".[26]

In August 2022, Barclay announced that more than 50 new surgical hubs would open in England to help tackle a backlog of treatments following the COVID-19 pandemic.[27]

On 6 September 2022, Barclay left the government and returned to the backbenches.[28]

Second term (2022–2023)

[edit]

He was reappointed by Rishi Sunak when Sunak became prime minister on 25 October 2022. Chief executive officer of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, said: "Mr Barclay would do well to remember that he is taking on one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world".[29] In April 2023, The Guardian reported that unnamed sources said concerns had been raised about Barclay's alleged conduct towards civil servants. The Department of Health and Social Care said it had not received any formal complaints about the behaviour of its ministers.[30] On 13 November 2023, he left his role as Health Secretary to take up a different cabinet position.[31]

Environment Secretary

[edit]

On 13 November 2023 in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's November cabinet reshuffle Barclay was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,[31] considered to be a demotion from his former Health role.[32] Conflict-of-interest concerns were immediately raised by his appointment, as his wife was an executive of Anglian Water, one of the UK water companies perceived to be responsible for widespread and prolonged environmental damage. He also had final say on the Development Consent Order (DCO) for Anglian Water's relocation to the Cambridge green belt of the current fully functional Waste Water Treatment Plant costing hundreds of millions of pounds.[33]

Despite these concerns, in 2024 he announced a block on bonuses' payouts to executives of water companies which are polluting rivers, lakes and seas.[34]

Steve Barclay meeting Bill Gates in 2023

In opposition

[edit]

Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Barclay was appointed Shadow Environment Secretary in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet. Following Sunak's departure, Kemi Badenoch did not appoint Barclay to her initial Shadow Cabinet.

Personal life

[edit]

Barclay and his wife Karen[33] have a son and a daughter.[2] Barclay is a rugby fan.[35]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9120.
  2. ^ a b "Barclay, Stephen Paul, (born 1972), MP (C) North East Cambridgeshire, since 2010; Economic Secretary to HM Treasury, since 2017". Who's Who. 2010. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251452.
  3. ^ "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Barclay, Rt Hon. Stephen (Paul), (born 1972), PC 2018; MP (C) North East Cambridgeshire, since 2010; Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, since 2022". Who's Who 2024. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Steve Barclay". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Candidate Profile: Steve Barclay". Cambs Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  7. ^ "No. 52531". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 May 1991. p. 7432.
  8. ^ "No. 52707". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 November 1991. p. 16855.
  9. ^ a b "Biography". stevebarclay.net. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  10. ^ "About Steve". Steve Barclay. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Cambridgeshire North East". BBC News.
  14. ^ Barrett, Matthew (14 September 2012). "The 24 Conservative MPs who are still on the backbenches and have never rebelled". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Cambridgeshire North East - Election 2015". BBC News.
  16. ^ "Cambridgeshire North East parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. ^ "Steve Barclay named new Brexit Secretary". BBC News. 16 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  18. ^ Leishman, Fiona (24 July 2019). "MP Stephen Barclay holds on to Brexit secretary job in Boris' new cabinet". Cambridgeshire Live. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Cambridgeshire North East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  20. ^ Lothian-McLean, Moya (15 May 2020). "Tory minister left red faced after being corrected over how many people received coronavirus tests". indy100. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  21. ^ Elworthy, John (15 September 2021). "Top Cabinet post for NE Cambs MP Steve Barclay". Cambs Times. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  22. ^ PA Media (5 February 2022). "Boris Johnson brings in new No 10 chief of staff and director of communications". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  23. ^ Frot, Mathilde (4 February 2022). "Boris's Jewish adviser Dan Rosenfield resigns amid partygate row". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Steve Barclay: PM's new chief of staff pledges smaller state". BBC News. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  25. ^ "Steve Barclay appointed Health Secretary". LBC. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Steve Barclay is NHS leadership's worst 'nightmare'". Health Service Journal. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  27. ^ "More than 50 new surgical hubs to help 'bust' COVID backlogs, minister says". Sky News. 26 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Steve Barclay twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  29. ^ Devereux, Ella (26 October 2022). "Leaders react to reappointment of Steve Barclay as health secretary". Nursing Times. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  30. ^ Topping, Alexandra (27 April 2023). "Colleagues of Steve Barclay defend health secretary over bullying claims". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  31. ^ a b "The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  32. ^ "Reshuffle latest: Steve Barclay replaces Thérèse Coffey as environment secretary". Politics.co.uk. 13 November 2023.
  33. ^ a b Stevens, John (14 November 2023). "New Tory environment chief is married to executive of sewage-dumping water firm". The Mirror. London.
  34. ^ Vaughan, Adam (18 February 2024). "Bosses of polluting water companies face ban on bonuses". The Times. London. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  35. ^ Emirali, Leon (28 October 2022). "Leon Emirali: Barclay is the perfect safe pair of hands to get a grip on the NHS". Conservative Home. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen Barclay.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
North East Cambridgeshire
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Economic Secretary to the Treasury
2017–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Health
2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
2018–2020 		Office abolished
Preceded by Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
2021–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for the Cabinet Office
2021–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
2022–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
2023–2024 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Downing Street Chief of Staff
2022 		Succeeded by
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