Who is Home Secretary James Cleverly - from private school to Warhammer passion
New Home Secretary James Cleverly is the privately educated landlord who voted against a law that would have required rented properties to be fit for people to live in.
Shifted from the Foreign Office to the Home Office following Suella Braverman's sacking in the wake of her calamitous week of comments leading up to Remembrance weekend, Cleverly has been a controversial figure when it comes to the less well off in our society. In 2016, Parliament's register of interests showed he was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against a Labour move to improve people's living standards. The party's amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill would have required private landlords to make homes which they put up for rent "fit for human habitation". Cleverly is no longer a landlord, according to the latest register of interests.
The same year, after he voted to cut Employment and Support Allowance, Cleverly was asked to step down as patron of Advocacy for All, a charity supporting disadvantaged people in South East England as the body felt he was no longer a suitable person for the role.
The Tory MP was privately educated at Riverston School and then Colfe's School, both in Lee, London and sends his own children, Freddy and Rupert, who he describes as "lively" , to private school too. During his stint as Education Secretary under Boris Johnson, he said he’d “love to give everyone enough financial freedom” to make the same choice, and adding that he would not “play politics with the future life chances” of his children.
Cleverly has volunteered for the Territorial Army for more than 20 yearsAmid the chaotic premiership of Liz Truss that saw the UK economy brought to its knees, Cleverly - a staunch ally of the disastrous PM - said the government did “not aim to make mistakes” but “in life, in politics, in business, mistakes do happen”.
Piers Morgan to face off with Rishi Sunak as PM agrees to TalkTV interview
Controversy also dogged Cleverly's election to parliament. He was selected to be Tory candidate for Braintree in 2015 after the sitting Conservative MP Brooks Newmark stood down in a sexting and obscene images scandal. Cleverly wasn't initially picked by the local party but became the man for the seat when the selection process was initially suspended after someone not on the approved list had been chosen.
Following his election, the 54-year-old father of two was appointed Foreign Secretary by short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss, staying in the job when Rishi Sunak took over the premiership. Perhaps ironically, given the row surrounding Remembrance Day commemorations that embroiled his predecessor, Cleverly has close ties to the military. He volunteered for the Territorial Army for more than 20 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Mr Cleverly previously said: "I was born in Lewisham Hospital, my mother worked as a midwife at the hospital where I was born and my father worked to build up a successful small business. Seeing how hard both my parents worked showed me the importance of supporting both businesses and the public sector. I spent much of my childhood with family in Chelmsford and when I left school I followed family tradition and joined the army. That ambition was cut short by injury, so I went back into education and got a business degree and joined the Territorial Army."
The new Home SecretaryHe met his wife, Susie, at university and started a career in magazine and digital publishing before setting up his own company and then moving on to politics. When he was appointed on to Liz Truss' front bench back in 2022, old tweets prompted it to be declared "a huge day for nerds everywhere" as Mr Cleverly's hobby was revealed.
X - formerly known as Twitter - user Ben uncovered a 2012 tweet on Cleverly’s account that revealed he liked a YouTube video titled: “How to paint Astorath The Grim? Warhammer 40000 | Blood Angels.” Ben wrote: “A huge day for nerds everywhere. James Cleverly is the first openly Warhammer-painting person to hold one of the great offices of state.”
He also pointed out that Warhammer paraphernalia was also spotted in the background of an interview Cleverly did with the BBC in 2021.
According to the website, TheyWorkForYou, Mr Cleverly's voting record in the Houses of Parliament shows he is generally in favour of stronger enforcement of immigration rules, voting 16 times for, once against and missing the vote 7 times between 2015 and 2022.
He has also voted for a stricter asylum system, voting 23 votes for, one against and missing the vote 12 times in the same period.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
