Rt Hon Sir James Cleverly, MP for Braintree
James Cleverly has been an MP since 2015.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Home Secretary (Home Office) | 2023 to 2024 | |
| Foreign Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) | 2022 to 2023 | |
| Secretary of State for Education (Department for Education) | 2022 | |
| Minister of State (Minister for Europe) (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) | 2022 | |
| Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) | 2020 to 2022 | |
| Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) (Joint with the Department for International Development) (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) | 2020 | |
| Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office) (Cabinet Office) | 2019 to 2020 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Exiting the European Union) (Department for Exiting the European Union ) | 2019 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) | 2025 to 2026 | |
| Shadow Home Secretary (Home Office) | 2024 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Education Committee | 2025 | |
| Consolidation, &c., Bills (Joint Committee) | 2017 to 2019 | |
| International Trade Committee | 2016 to 2017 | |
| Consolidation, &c., Bills (Joint Committee) | 2015 to 2017 |
Other posts
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Co-Chair, Conservative Party | 2019 to 2020 | |
| Deputy Chair, Conservative Party | 2018 to 2019 |
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
James Cleverly has 11 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Visits outside the UK | International visit to United States between 29 January 2026 and 22 February 2026 | 5 Mar 2026 |
| Employment and earnings - Ongoing paid employment | Agreement starting 02 January 2026 - £52,000.00 | 7 Jan 2026 |
| Employment and earnings | Senior Adviser - BOKA Capital Ltd | 7 Jan 2026 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 19 December 2025 - £5,950.00 | 5 Jan 2026 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 05 December 2025 - £6,800.00 | 10 Dec 2025 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 08 August 2025 - £12,750.00 | 13 Oct 2025 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 03 October 2025 - £11,900.00 | 10 Oct 2025 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 03 October 2025 - £5,950.00 | 10 Oct 2025 |
| Miscellaneous | Non-executive Board Member of the Parliamentary Knowledge Schemes. This is an unpaid role. | 23 Sep 2025 |
| Employment and earnings | Speaking engagements - JLA Speakers Ltd | 18 Jun 2025 |
Show the other 1
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Miscellaneous | Officer in the Reserve Forces. I have received no payments since my election. | 4 Jun 2016 |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
James Cleverly asked 1975 written questions in the last 12 months.
Who they asked
Latest questions
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
21 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
James Cleverly represents Braintree. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Conservative
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
James Cleverly won with 36% of the votes, and Matthew Wright (Labour) came second with 28%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Cleverly | Conservative | 17,414 | 35.5% |
| Matthew Wright | Labour | 13,744 | 28.0% |
| Richard Thomson | Reform UK | 11,346 | 23.1% |
| Kieron Franks | Liberal Democrat | 2,879 | 5.9% |
| Paul Thorogood | Green Party | 2,878 | 5.9% |
| David Heather | Independent | 767 | 1.6% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months James Cleverly took part in 190 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
James Cleverly voted the same way as their party in 188 of the 188 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | Against | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | Against | Free vote |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 7 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this