Alex Burghart

Michael Alex Burghart[1] (born 7 September 1977) is a British Conservative Party politician who was re-elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar at the December 2019 general election, having first been elected in June 2017. He became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019.[2] Burghart was formerly a teacher, university lecturer and special adviser to Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May.[3]

Alex Burghart

MP
Burghart in 2017
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
Assumed office
26 July 2019
Serving with Trudy Harrison
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byAndrew Bowie
Member of Parliament
for Brentwood and Ongar
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded bySir Eric Pickles
Majority29,065 (54.9%)
Personal details
Born (1977-09-07) 7 September 1977
Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Hermione Eyre
Alma materChrist Church, University of Oxford
King's College London
ProfessionPolitician
Websitewww.alexburghart.org.uk

Early life

Burghart was born in Dorset in 1977, the son of two state-school teachers.[4][5] He attended Millfield School in Somerset, having gained a scholarship to the school. Burghart read History at Christ Church, Oxford. He completed his PhD at King's College London in 2007 entitled "The Mercian polity, 716–918".[6]

Career

Academic

After university, Burghart taught history at Warwick School before becoming a history tutor at King's College, London.[7] In 2005 he was the lead researcher for the King's College, London project on interrogating Anglo-Saxon charters using digital technologies.[8]

Policy Adviser

Burghart became a political and policy adviser to Tim Loughton MP, 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[9]

In 2012 Burghart became Director of Policy at the Centre for Social Justice.[10] In February 2016 Burghart was appointed Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield.[11] Later that year he became part of Prime Minister Theresa May's policy team.[3]

Politics

Burghart stood against Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North in 2015. He told the Islington Gazette that, if elected, the first thing he would do would be to "Dance a jig (and try to resuscitate Jeremy Corbyn)."[12] Although he was not elected, Burghart increased the Conservative share of the vote from 14.2% to 17.2%.[13]

He was selected for the Brentwood and Ongar seat under by-election rules on 28 April 2017 following the decision by the Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles to stand down at the 2017 General Election.[14] Burghart was re-elected on 12 December 2019 with an increased majority of 29,065.

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 PPS to the former Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, and to the former Northern Ireland Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP.

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.[15] Burghart has written extensively about early medieval England, writing for The Times Literary Supplement for over 12 years, The Spectator and BBC History.[16]

Personal life

Alex moved to the constituency in May 2017. He and his family now live near Ongar. He is married to Hermione Eyre, the daughter of Sir Reginald Eyre, former Conservative MP for Birmingham Hall Green, and has two children.

Burghart has sat on the Board of the Yarlington Housing Group[17] and was Vice Chair of Governors at Queensmill School for children with autism.[18]

References
  1. "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11781.
  2. "Steve Baker declines role in Boris Johnson government – as it happened". The Guardian. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  3. "Who is Who in Theresa May's Downing Street". The Debate. 30 September 2016. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  4. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  5. "Alex Burghart". Brentwood & Ongar.
  6. "EThOS". British Library. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  7. "Michael Burghart – Research Portal, King's College, London". kclpure.kcl.ac.uk.
  8. "AsChart: Anglo-Saxon Charters". Completed projects A-Z. King's College London. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. "Munro review reports – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
  10. "Alex Burghart, Director of Policy, Centre for Social Justice". socialintegrationcommission.org.uk. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. "Children's Commissioner appoints Alex Burghart as new strategy chief". 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  12. Dean, Jon. "Alex Burghart".
  13. "Islington Council: 2015 General Election results for Islington". www.islington.gov.uk.
  14. "Alex Burghart wins the Brentwood and Ongar selection contest – Conservative Home".
  15. Alex Burghart, Edited by Matthew Oakley (September 2016). "A better start in life" (PDF). PolicyExchange. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  16. "August issue out now". Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  17. "New members join Yarlington Housing Group Board". 16 December 2015.
  18. "Welcome to Queensmill School". www.queensmillschool.info. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Eric Pickles		 Member of Parliament
for Brentwood and Ongar
2017–present		 Incumbent
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