1. James Roger Cartlidge was born on 30 April 1974 and is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for South Suffolk since 2015.
19 Facts About James Cartlidge
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James Cartlidge had previously served as Minister of State for Defence Procurement from 2023 to 2024, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2022 to 2023, as well as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice from 2021 to 2022.
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James Cartlidge then went to the University of Manchester where he read Economics, graduating BSc.
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In July 2015, in one of his first actions in Parliament, James Cartlidge brought a barrel of local beer from his constituency into the House of Commons to drink with his new parliamentary colleagues.
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Also in July 2015, James Cartlidge took a train journey from Sudbury to Marks Tey with Rail Executives from Abellio Greater Anglia, Network Rail and officials from the Department for Transport to highlight issues affecting those travelling by train to his constituency.
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James Cartlidge has worked to improve mobile phone signal in his constituency, launching in February 2016 a campaign in Boxford for greater efforts to provide mobile telephone coverage in 'not-spots'.
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James Cartlidge was elected to serve on the Public Accounts Commission in November 2015 and the Work and Pensions Committee in October 2016.
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James Cartlidge was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.
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In July 2019 James Cartlidge was one of 73 MPs to vote against equal marriage in Northern Ireland.
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James Cartlidge has publicly expressed his strong support for equal marriage but voted against imposing this law in Northern Ireland 'in absentia'.
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In October 2020, James Cartlidge wrote in the East Anglian Daily Times that COVID-19 exacerbated the need for part-time season rail tickets.
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On 17 September 2021, James Cartlidge was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice and an Assistant Government Whip in the Cabinet reshuffle.
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On 7 July 2022, James Cartlidge resigned from HMG in the wake of widespread criticism of Boris Johnson's mishandling of the Chris Pincher scandal, which precipitated a large number of ministerial resignations.
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James Cartlidge served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 28 October 2022 to 21 April 2023.
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James Cartlidge replaced Alex Chalk as Minister of State for Defence Procurement in April 2023, following a mini-reshuffle.
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On 22 February 2024, James Cartlidge launched the Defence Drone Strategy, committing the Ministry of Defence to its first comprehensive capability plan for uncrewed systems.
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James Cartlidge retained this post upon Kemi Badenoch's election as Conservative Party Leader.
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James Cartlidge is married to Emily Howarth, with whom he has four children.
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James Cartlidge's father-in-law is former Conservative MP, Sir Gerald Howarth.