British politician (born 1972)
Stephen Paul Barclay
(born 3 May 1972)
[1]
[2]
is a British politician who has been the
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
since November 2023, having previously served in various
cabinet
positions under prime ministers
Theresa May
,
Boris Johnson
and
Rishi Sunak
between 2018 and 2023. A member of the
Conservative Party
, he has been
Member of Parliament
(MP) for
North East Cambridgeshire
since 2010.
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
]
Barclay was born in 1972 in
Lytham
,
Lancashire
.
[3]
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.
[4]
He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom played rugby.
[5]
Barclay was educated at
King Edward VII School
, an independent school in
Lytham St Annes
. After completing
A levels
, he joined the
British Army
on a
gap year
commission. He attended the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
, he was granted a short service limited commission as a
second lieutenant
(on probation) in the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
on 6 April 1991.
[6]
After five months of service, he resigned his commission on 7 September 1991.
[7]
After his gap year, he read history at
Peterhouse, Cambridge
, graduating with a
Bachelor of Arts
(BA) degree in 1994.
[3]
His is the first generation of his family to go to university.
[
citation needed
]
He then studied at the
College of Law
at its
Chester
campus, to qualify as a solicitor in 1998.
[4]
Early career
[
edit
]
Barclay completed his
training contract
with a large London law firm before working successively at
Axa Insurance
, the
Financial Services Authority
, and
Barclays
.
[8]
Parliamentary career
[
edit
]
After leaving university in 1994, Barclay joined the Conservative Party.
[9]
He was a member of the
Conservative A-List
and was twice an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate, contesting
Manchester Blackley
in
1997
and
Lancaster and Wyre
in
2001
, coming within 500 votes of winning the latter seat.
[10]
In 2007, Barclay took over as organiser of the
Carlton Club
political dinner, which raises funds for the Conservative Party's target seats.
[8]
Barclay was selected in January 2008 to replace the outgoing North East Cambridgeshire MP,
Malcolm Moss
, and was elected at the
May 2010 general election
with a majority of 16,425. After the election, he was soon elected by fellow MPs to become a member of the
Public Accounts Committee
, which scrutinises government spending.
[11]
ConservativeHome
named him as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any substantive rebellions.
[12]
Following the appointment of
Theresa May
as Prime Minister, Barclay was appointed as a
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
. He later joined
HM Treasury
as
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
and
City Minister
in June 2017. In January 2018 he became
Minister of State for Health
in the
Department for Health and Social Care
.
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
.
[13]
He retained his role as Brexit Secretary in
Boris Johnson
's
first
and
second
cabinets.
[14]
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
.
[15]
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
.
[16]
On 5 February 2022, Barclay was appointed by Johnson as his new
Chief of Staff
,
[17]
following the resignation of
Dan Rosenfield
.
[18]
He became the first serving MP to hold this position. He said he would pursue a "
smaller state
" in his new role.
[19]
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.
[20]
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".
[21]
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
.
[22]
On 6 September 2022, Barclay left the government and returned to the backbenches.
[23]
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".
[24]
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.
[25]
On 13 November 2023, he was dismissed as Health Secretary to take up a different cabinet position.
[26]
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
,
[26]
which is considered demotion from his former Health role.
[27]
Conflict of interest concerns were immediately raised by his appointment, insofar as his wife is an executive of
Anglian Water
, one of the UK water company perceived to be responsible for widespread and prolonged environmental damage. He also has final say on the Development Consent Order (DCO) for
Anglian Water
's relocation onto Cambridge greenbelt of the current fully functional Waste Water Treatment Plant costing hundreds of millions of pounds.
[28]
Despite these concerns, in 2024 he announced a block on bonuses' payouts to executives of water companies which are polluting rivers, lakes and seas.
[29]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Barclay and his wife Karen
[28]
have a son and a daughter.
[2]
Barclay is a rugby fan.
[30]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"No. 61230"
.
The London Gazette
. 18 May 2015. p. 9120.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
a
b
"Steve Barclay"
.
ConservativeHome
. Archived from
the original
on 16 May 2014
. Retrieved
18 March
2015
.
- ^
"Candidate Profile: Steve Barclay"
.
Cambs Times
.
Archived
from the original on 22 October 2019
. Retrieved
22 October
2019
.
- ^
"No. 52531"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 13 May 1991. p. 7432.
- ^
"No. 52707"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 4 November 1991. p. 16855.
- ^
a
b
"Biography"
.
stevebarclay.net
. Archived from
the original
on 9 May 2012
. Retrieved
17 April
2012
.
- ^
"About Steve"
.
Steve Barclay
.
Archived
from the original on 20 March 2015
. Retrieved
17 March
2015
.
- ^
"ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats"
.
ConservativeHome
.
Archived
from the original on 28 October 2014
. Retrieved
6 February
2011
.
- ^
"Public Accounts Committee - Membership"
.
UK Parliament
.
Archived
from the original on 18 November 2017
. Retrieved
17 April
2012
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
"Steve Barclay named new Brexit Secretary"
.
BBC News
. 16 November 2018.
Archived
from the original on 16 November 2018
. Retrieved
16 November
2018
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Elworthy, John (15 September 2021).
"Top Cabinet post for NE Cambs MP Steve Barclay"
.
Cambs Times
. Retrieved
18 September
2021
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Frot, Mathilde (4 February 2022).
"Boris's Jewish adviser Dan Rosenfield resigns amid partygate row"
.
The Jewish Chronicle
. Retrieved
6 February
2022
.
- ^
"Steve Barclay: PM's new chief of staff pledges smaller state"
.
BBC News
. 13 February 2022
. Retrieved
13 February
2022
.
- ^
"Steve Barclay appointed Health Secretary"
.
LBC
. Retrieved
5 July
2022
.
- ^
"Steve Barclay is NHS leadership's worst 'nightmare'
"
.
Health Service Journal
. 6 July 2022
. Retrieved
6 July
2022
.
- ^
"More than 50 new surgical hubs to help 'bust' COVID backlogs, minister says"
.
Sky News
. 26 August 2022.
- ^
"Steve Barclay twitter"
.
Twitter
. Retrieved
6 September
2022
.
- ^
Devereux, Ella (26 October 2022).
"Leaders react to reappointment of Steve Barclay as health secretary"
.
Nursing Times
. Retrieved
31 October
2022
.
- ^
Topping, Alexandra (27 April 2023).
"Colleagues of Steve Barclay defend health secretary over bullying claims"
.
The Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
30 April
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP"
.
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
13 November
2023
.
- ^
"Reshuffle latest: Steve Barclay replaces Therese Coffey as environment secretary"
.
Politics.co.uk
. 13 November 2023.
- ^
a
b
Stevens, John (14 November 2023).
"New Tory environment chief is married to executive of sewage-dumping water firm"
.
The Mirror
.
- ^
Editor, Adam Vaughan, Environment (18 February 2024).
"Bosses of polluting water companies face ban on bonuses"
.
ISSN
0140-0460
. Retrieved
18 February
2024
.
CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
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
.
External links
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