Steve Barclay

## Stephen Barclay

Official portrait, 2022

(5th July 2022 – 6th September 2022, 25th October 2022 - 13th November 2023)Downing Street Chief of Staff
 (5th February 2022 – 5th July 2022)

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
 (15th September 2021 – 5th July 2022)

Minister for the Cabinet Office
 (15th September 2021 – 8th February 2022)

Chief Secretary to the Treasury
 (13th February 2020 – 15th September 2021)

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
 (16th November 2018 – 31st January 2020)

Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire
 (6th May 2010 - present)

## Personal Information

### Children

A Son
A Daughter

### Education

King Edward VII School, Lytham

**Stephen Paul Barclay** (born 3 May 1972) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since October 2022, having previously held the position from July to September 2022 under Boris Johnson. He served as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2018 to 2020, Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2020 to 2021, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2021 to 2022, and Downing Street Chief of Staff from February to July 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Cambridgeshire since 2010.

Born in Lancashire and 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 Mayfollowing 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 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 new Prime Minister Liz Truss in September 2022. In October 2022, following Truss's resignation he was reappointed to the role by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

## 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. He is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom played rugby.

Barclay was educated at King Edward VII School, an independent school in Lytham St Annes. After completing his 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. 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 Chestercampus, to qualify as a solicitor in 1998.

## Early career

Barclay completed his training contract as an articled clerk with a large London law firm before working at Axa Insurance, the Financial Services Authority, and Barclays.

## Parliamentary career

After leaving university in 1994, Barclay joined the Conservative Party. 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. In 2007, Barclay took over as organiser of the Carlton Club political dinner, which raises funds for the Conservative Party's target seats.

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. ConservativeHome named him as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the Government in any substantive rebellions.

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 Healthin 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. He retained his role as Brexit Secretary in Boris Johnson's first and second cabinets. 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.

### 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.

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

### Health Secretary

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

### Later backbench career

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