James Cartlidge, MP for South Suffolk
James Cartlidge has been an MP since 2015. Currently: Shadow Secretary of State for Defence.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Ministry of Defence) | 2023 to 2024 | |
| Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury) (HM Treasury) | 2022 to 2023 | |
| Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (and Assistant Government Whip) (Whips Office (Commons)) | 2021 to 2022 | |
| Assistant Whip (Whips Office (Commons)) | 2021 to 2022 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (Ministry of Defence) | 2024 to now | Now |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Public Accounts Committee | 2022 to 2023 | |
| Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill | 2022 | |
| Judicial Review and Courts Bill | 2021 | |
| Work and Pensions Committee | 2016 to 2017 | |
| Public Accounts Commission | 2015 to 2017 |
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 Cartlidge has 3 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Dr Sarah Ingham - £10,000.00 | 6 May 2026 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | Dr Sarah Ingham - £2,005.90 | 15 Oct 2025 |
| Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP | James Uffindell - £5,000.00 | 14 Oct 2025 |
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 Cartlidge asked 1497 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.
43 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 Cartlidge represents South Suffolk. 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 Cartlidge won with 33% of the votes, and Emma Bishton (Labour) came second with 27%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Cartlidge | Conservative | 16,082 | 33.0% |
| Emma Bishton | Labour | 13,035 | 26.7% |
| Beverley England | Reform UK | 9,252 | 19.0% |
| Tom Bartleet | Liberal Democrat | 6,424 | 13.2% |
| Jessie Carter | Green Party | 4,008 | 8.2% |
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 Cartlidge took part in 211 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
James Cartlidge voted the same way as their party in 209 of the 209 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 | For | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | For | Same as party |
| 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 |
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