The Right Honourable
Steve Barclay
MP
Official portrait, 2023
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Assumed office
13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byThérèse Coffey
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
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
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byMalcolm Moss
Majority29,993 (56.6%)
Personal details
Born
Stephen Paul Barclay

(1972-05-03) 3 May 1972
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 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 before reading history at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Qualifying as a solicitor from the College of Law, he worked in the financial sector while being active in the Conservative Party and unsuccessfully contesting 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

Barclay was brought up in Lancashire. 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.[3] He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom played rugby.[4]

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, attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and served as a second lieutenant with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers for five months.[5][6] His is the first generation of his family to go to university, and he read history at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He then studied at the College of Law at its Chester campus, to qualify as a solicitor in 1998.[3]

Early career

Barclay completed his training contract with a large London law firm before working successively at Axa Insurance, the Financial Services Authority, and Barclays.[7]

Parliamentary career

After leaving university in 1994, Barclay joined the Conservative Party.[8] He was a member of the 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.[9] In 2007, Barclay took over as organiser of the Carlton Club political dinner, which raises funds for the Conservative Party's target seats.[7]

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.[10] ConservativeHome named him as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any substantive rebellions.[11]

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

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.[12] He retained his role as Brexit Secretary in Boris Johnson's first and second cabinets.[13] 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

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.[14]

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

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.[15]

On 5 February 2022, Barclay was appointed by Johnson as his new Chief of Staff,[16] following the resignation of Dan Rosenfield.[17] He became the first serving MP to hold this position. He said he would pursue a "smaller state" in his new role.[18] Barclay ceased to hold either office after his appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Health Secretary

First term (2022)

On 5 July 2022, Barclay was appointed Health Secretary after Sajid Javid's resignation on 3 July.[19] 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".[20]

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.[21]

On 6 September 2022, Barclay left the government and returned to the backbenches.[22]

Second term (2022–2023)

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".[23] 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.[24] On 13 November 2023, he was dismissed as Heath Secretary to take up a different cabinet position.[25]

Environment Secretary

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,[25] which is considered demotion from his former Health role.[26] 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.[27]

Steve Barclay meeting Bill Gates in 2023

Personal life

Barclay and his wife Karen[27] have a son and a daughter.[2] Barclay is a rugby fan.[28]

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9120.
  2. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "Steve Barclay". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Candidate Profile: Steve Barclay". Cambs Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "No. 52531". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 May 1991. p. 7432.
  6. ↑ "No. 52707". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 November 1991. p. 16855.
  7. 1 2 "Biography". stevebarclay.net. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "About Steve". Steve Barclay. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ "Public Accounts Committee - Membership". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Steve Barclay named new Brexit Secretary". BBC News. 16 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Elworthy, John (15 September 2021). "Top Cabinet post for NE Cambs MP Steve Barclay". Cambs Times. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Frot, Mathilde (4 February 2022). "Boris's Jewish adviser Dan Rosenfield resigns amid partygate row". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  18. ↑ "Steve Barclay: PM's new chief of staff pledges smaller state". BBC News. 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Steve Barclay appointed Health Secretary". LBC. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  20. ↑ "Steve Barclay is NHS leadership's worst 'nightmare'". Health Service Journal. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "More than 50 new surgical hubs to help 'bust' COVID backlogs, minister says". Sky News. 26 August 2022.
  22. ↑ "Steve Barclay twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  23. ↑ Devereux, Ella (26 October 2022). "Leaders react to reappointment of Steve Barclay as health secretary". Nursing Times. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  24. ↑ Topping, Alexandra (27 April 2023). "Colleagues of Steve Barclay defend health secretary over bullying claims". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  25. 1 2 "The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Reshuffle latest: Steve Barclay replaces Thérèse Coffey as environment secretary". Politics.co.uk. 13 November 2023.
  27. 1 2 Stevens, John (14 November 2023). "New Tory environment chief is married to executive of sewage-dumping water firm". The Mirror.
  28. ↑ 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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