42 Facts About James Cleverly

James Spencer Cleverly was born on 4 September 1969 and is a British politician and Army Reserve officer who has served as Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2022.

James Cleverly previously served as Secretary of State for Education from July to September 2022, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party alongside Ben Elliot from 2019 to 2020 and as the member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley from 2008 to 2016.

James Cleverly served as co-chairman of the Conservative Party alongside Ben Elliot from 2019 to 2020.

James Cleverly was demoted from the Cabinet in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle and appointed Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa.

James Cleverly became Minister of State for Middle East, North Africa and North America in December 2021, before being appointed Minister of State for Europe and North America in February 2022.

James Cleverly's father is British and worked as a surveyor and his mother worked as a midwife and is from Sierra Leone.

James Cleverly was privately educated at Riverston School and Colfe's School, both in Lee, London.

James Cleverly then trained in the army, but his training was cut short by a leg injury in 1989.

James Cleverly went on to gain a Bachelor of Arts degree in hospitality management studies from Ealing College of Higher Education in 1991.

Two years later, James Cleverly joined Crimson Publishing as an advertising manager.

James Cleverly became online commercial manager for Caspian Publishing in 2006.

On 6 October 1991, James Cleverly was commissioned into the Territorial Army, as a second lieutenant.

James Cleverly was promoted to first lieutenant on 6 October 1993, to captain on 26 May 1998, and to major on 1 November 2003.

James Cleverly was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 March 2015.

James Cleverly is currently part of Central Volunteers HQ Royal Artillery, working as a Staff Officer in 1st Armoured Division.

In March 2007, James Cleverly was selected as the candidate for the Bexley and Bromley constituency of the London Assembly in a very tightly fought selection contest.

In January 2009 James Cleverly was appointed as the mayor of London's youth ambassador, a newly created role which was seen as being a replacement post for the deputy mayor for young people, a post left vacant after the resignation of Ray Lewis.

In February 2010, James Cleverly was appointed as the chairman of the London Waste and Recycling Board, replacing Boris Johnson who had stood down.

In November 2010, James Cleverly was re-selected to be the Conservative candidate for Bexley and Bromley at the 2012 London Assembly election, going on to win the seat with 88,482 votes and a majority of 47,768.

James Cleverly's selection came after the initial selection process was quietly suspended by Conservative Campaign Headquarters, after the local party chose someone not on the approved candidates list and was told to "think again".

James Cleverly was elected as the constituency's MP, following which he did not defend his seat at the 2016 London Assembly election.

In November 2015 James Cleverly was criticised for pushing through the closure of 10 fire stations in London after the death of an elderly man in Camden following delays in the arrival of fire crews.

In March 2016 James Cleverly was asked to step down as patron of Advocacy for All, a charity supporting disadvantaged people in South East England.

James Cleverly advocated a vote for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

James Cleverly was re-elected, with an increased majority, at the 2017 general election.

In October 2018 James Cleverly defended Conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey over potentially Islamophobic and Hinduphobic comments he had made in a pamphlet and suggested that black boys were drifting into crime as a result of learning more about faiths other than "their own Christian culture".

On 29 May 2019, James Cleverly announced he was standing to replace Theresa May in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, but announced his withdrawal from the race on 4 June 2019.

In March 2021, James Cleverly described the situation in Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

On 7 July 2022, James Cleverly succeeded Michelle Donelan as Secretary of State for Education, a post that he held for almost two months.

James Cleverly was appointed Foreign Secretary by incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss on 6 September 2022.

James Cleverly stated that "Iran cannot be allowed to violate UN resolutions".

James Cleverly endorsed Boris Johnson in the October 2022 Conservative Party Leadership Election but Johnson did not end up standing and James Cleverly instead endorsed Rishi Sunak.

In October 2022, due to doubts raised that British homosexual football fans would be safe at the 2022 Football World Cup taking place in Qatar, James Cleverly suggested that gay fans should show "a little bit of flex and compromise".

James Cleverly met again with Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, in Washington DC to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine, recent events in Iran following the anti-regime protest occurring there among other issues, and to reaffirm the UK's special relationship with the United States.

James Cleverly was criticised by Tory MPs, including Liz Truss, for refusing to reclassify China as a "threat" in response to the Chinese government's aggressive foreign policy and its human rights abuses of the Uyghur Muslim community.

James Cleverly married Susannah Sparks in 2000; the couple have two sons.

James Cleverly was accused of causing damage to a fellow motorist's car while driving on the M11 motorway.

The incident occurred in August 2019, with the other driver claiming that James Cleverly had been speeding while using his phone.

James Cleverly's cousin Chris Cleverly is a lawyer and businessman.

James Cleverly is a fan of the miniature wargame Warhammer 40,000, and has a private YouTube channel dedicated to painting the game's miniatures.

James Cleverly was awarded the Efficiency Decoration for 12 years' commissioned service in the Territorial Army in January 2012, as well as the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022 and the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2023.

James Cleverly was sworn of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 8 October 2019 at Buckingham Palace as part of his appointment as Minister without portfolio and Conservative Party Chairman in the Johnson ministry.