28 Facts About Jesse Norman

Alexander Jesse Norman was born on 23 June 1962 and is a British politician who has served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons since November 2024.

Jesse Norman served as a Minister in the Treasury, Foreign Office, Cabinet Office, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for Transport.

Jesse Norman is the son of Sir Torquil Norman and his wife Lady Elizabeth Montagu, the paternal grandson of Air Commodore Sir Nigel Norman, 2nd Bt, CBE, and the great-grandson of Sir Henry Norman, 1st Bt.

Jesse Norman was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford, graduating with a Second in Classics.

Jesse Norman pursued further studies at University College London, where he was appointed an Honorary Research Fellow in philosophy, taking a Master of Philosophy in 1999 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2003.

Jesse Norman lectured in philosophy at University College London and Birkbeck, University of London.

Jesse Norman was for many years a trustee of The Roundhouse, a North London arts venue and charity founded by his father, Sir Torquil Norman.

Jesse Norman has served on the board of the Hay Festival, the Kindle Centre in Hereford, and the Friends of St Mary's church, Ross-on-Wye.

Jesse Norman was a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and writes regularly for the national press.

At the 2006 local elections in Camden, Jesse Norman was one of the three Conservative candidates for Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward.

Jesse Norman was a member of the Treasury Select Committee from July 2010 to March 2015, is Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Employee Ownership, founder of the PFI Rebate Campaign and founding member of the Campaign for an Effective Second Chamber which campaigns for the House of Lords to be appointed rather than elected.

On 10 July 2012, Jesse Norman was reported to be the organiser ringleader of the rebellion over the House of Lords Reform package presented to the House of Commons.

In 2013, Jesse Norman said that so many Old Etonians were in government positions because of Eton's "ethos" of public service that "other schools don't imbue the same commitment".

Later on Twitter, Jesse Norman said his comments were "defending one institution, not attacking others".

Jesse Norman describes his educational background as following "an educational argument between my mother, who despised any form of privilege, and my father, who took the view that he had set up his own business, so he was entitled to spend money on his kids' education".

Jesse Norman was dismissed from Downing Street's Policy Board in September 2013 after rebelling against the Government again in opposition to military intervention in Syria.

Jesse Norman argued that the EU constitution requires elected heads to choose its "President" and secondly that Juncker's manifesto fails to tackle what he sees as the President's duty to address the unpopularity of EU mandates.

Jesse Norman said that democracy, for the British, involves legitimacy derived from the ballot box, whereas for some Europeans, it involves centralised bureaucracy.

In September 2014, Jesse Norman raised the issue of rules concerning football club ownership in the House of Commons, alleging the then-Chairman of Hereford United had a criminal conviction, in support of Supporters Trust's campaign to oust the Agombar regime at Hereford Utd FC.

Jesse Norman was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport after the 2017 general election, before advancing to Minister of State at the same department in November 2018.

In May 2019, Jesse Norman was appointed Paymaster General and Financial Secretary to the Treasury by May; he remained in the latter position under her successor, Boris Johnson, until he stepped down in September 2021.

On 6 June 2022, Jesse Norman sent his letter of no confidence to Boris Johnson, in reaction to the Partygate scandal and policy propositions that Jesse Norman opposed, such as Johnson's Rwanda plan and the privatisation of Channel 4.

Jesse Norman denounced the sidelining of Parliament by Johnson's Government, accusing him of "trying to import elements of a presidential system of government that is entirely foreign to our constitution".

Jesse Norman has been described as a member of the Conservative Party's One-Nation wing and one of the main intellectuals of Cameronism.

Jesse Norman is a supporter of the Big Society, viewing it as an example of Burkean Conservativism.

Jesse Norman argues that the Big Society is "a focus on human beings not as economic atoms, but as bundles of capability; a focus on intermediate institutions between the individual and the state; and a focus on society and individual rights as such, rather than as mediated by the state".

Jesse Norman is critical of liberal individualism, putting forth the idea that conservativism should be focused on human responsibility and that social orders should be preserved to address the needs of the "generations past, present and future".

In 1992, Jesse Norman married Kate Bingham, only daughter of The Lord Bingham of Cornhill, KG, the former Lord Chief Justice.