Roderick James Nugent Stewart was born on 3 January 1973 and is a British academic, diplomat, author, broadcaster, former soldier and former politician.
105 Facts About Rory Stewart
2.
Rory Stewart is the president of GiveDirectly and was a visiting fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he taught politics and international relations.
3.
Previously, Rory Stewart served as a minister in four different departments of the UK Government.
4.
Rory Stewart then became a Cabinet minister as Secretary of State for International Development from May to July 2019.
5.
Rory Stewart served as Member of Parliament for Penrith and The Border from 2010 to 2019.
6.
Rory Stewart left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
7.
Rory Stewart later wrote a best-selling book, The Places in Between, about his experiences.
8.
Rory Stewart subsequently served as Deputy Governor in Maysan and Dhi Qar for the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and wrote a second book covering this period, Occupational Hazards or The Prince of the Marshes.
9.
Rory Stewart was the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights and the director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University from 2008 to 2010.
10.
In 2010, Rory Stewart was elected to the House of Commons and in 2014 he was elected chair of the Defence Select Committee.
11.
Rory Stewart served under David Cameron as Minister for the Environment from 2015 to 2016.
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Rory Stewart ultimately joined the Cabinet and National Security Council as Secretary of State for International Development.
13.
Rory Stewart's campaign was defined by his unorthodox use of social media and opposition to a no-deal Brexit.
14.
Rory Stewart stated at the beginning of his campaign that he would not serve under Boris Johnson and when Johnson became Prime Minister, in July 2019, Stewart resigned from the Cabinet.
15.
On 3 October 2019, Rory Stewart announced he had resigned from the Conservative Party and that he would stand down as an MP at the next general election.
16.
Rory Stewart initially announced as an independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election but withdrew on 6 May 2020 on the grounds of the election being postponed due to COVID-19.
17.
Rory Stewart was born in Hong Kong, then under British rule, the son of Brian Rory Stewart and his wife, Sally Elizabeth Acland Nugent.
18.
Rory Stewart's family is from Broich House, near Crieff in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
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Rory Stewart's father, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a colonial official and diplomat who, in the 1970s, was reportedly a candidate to become the Chief of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service or MI6.
20.
Rory Stewart spent his early years in South Kensington, London before his family moved to Malaysia and then back to Hong Kong.
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Rory Stewart returned to Britain for boarding school from Malaysia at the age of 8, being educated at the Dragon School, in Oxford, and Eton College.
22.
Rory Stewart was taught martial arts and fencing by his father in Hyde Park.
23.
Rory Stewart studied medieval history under Maurice Keen and then philosophy, politics and economics under Jonathan Barnes at Balliol College, Oxford University.
24.
Rory Stewart attended a single meeting of the Bullingdon Club before resigning after witnessing the behaviour of other members.
25.
Rory Stewart was appointed at the age of 26 as the British Representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo campaign.
26.
Rory Stewart has said that his career progression and his father's work for MI6 might "give the appearance" that he worked for MI6, but says he did not work for MI6 while a diplomat.
27.
Rory Stewart has acknowledged that due to the Official Secrets Act, even if he had worked for MI6, he would not be able to admit it.
28.
Rory Stewart was posted initially to the KOSB Battlegroup then to the Light Infantry.
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Rory Stewart's responsibilities included holding elections, resolving tribal disputes, and implementing development projects.
30.
Rory Stewart faced growing unrest and an incipient civil war from his base in a Civil-Military Co-operation compound in Al Amarah, and in May 2004 was in command of his compound in Nasiriyah when it was besieged by Sadrist militia.
31.
Rory Stewart was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services during this period.
32.
In 2000, Rory Stewart took leave from the Foreign Service to walk across Asia.
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Rory Stewart has walked across sections of Western New Guinea and much of the United Kingdom.
34.
Rory Stewart was awarded the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Livingstone medal in 2009 "in recognition of his work in Afghanistan and his travel writing, and for his distinguished contribution to geography".
35.
Rory Stewart's book describing his walk across Afghanistan, The Places in Between, was a New York Times bestseller.
36.
Rory Stewart has written about theory and practice of travel writings in prefaces to Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands, Charles Doughty's Arabia Deserta, and Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana.
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Rory Stewart has written longer essays on 1920s Iraq, South Sudan and ISIS, on West Papua, counterinsurgency theory and early modern Aleppo, on the politics of the centre ground, and on Iran and Afghanistan.
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Rory Stewart appeared frequently on television and radio, including BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
39.
Rory Stewart was a columnist for The New York Times, and for his local constituency newspaper, the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, contributing a monthly column.
40.
In January 2010, Rory Stewart presented the BBC Two documentary miniseries The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia.
41.
In 2014, Rory Stewart wrote and presented a two-part documentary on BBC Two about the cross-border history of what he called "Britain's lost middleland", covering the kingdoms of Northumbria and Strathclyde and the Debatable Lands of the Scottish Marches on the Anglo-Scottish border.
42.
In late 2005, Rory Stewart set up the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, in Afghanistan, a human development NGO established by King Charles III, and Hamid Karzai.
43.
Rory Stewart stepped down as executive chairman of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in May 2010.
44.
Rory Stewart served for a time on the board of governors of the International Development Research Centre of Canada.
45.
Rory Stewart would be travelling to Yale University for lecture commitments.
46.
In July 2008, Stewart was appointed as to the faculty of the John F Kennedy School of Government as Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights at Harvard University and director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, having previously been a fellow at the Carr Center from 2004 to 2005.
47.
Rory Stewart returned to academia as a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute in 2020.
48.
Rory Stewart has frequently been called on to provide advice on Afghanistan and Iraq to policy-makers, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
49.
Rory Stewart suggested, in an argument that he would later expand in his Ted Talk, that a heavy American military footprint would be counterproductive, alienating Afghans, and that it would be better to reduce the size of the American Army in Afghanistan.
50.
Rory Stewart's ideas were rejected by senators, including future Secretary of State John Kerry.
51.
Rory Stewart had considered a parliamentary career in the past but only decided to stand when, in the aftermath of the expenses scandal, David Cameron decided to "reopen the Conservative candidates' list to anybody who wants to apply".
52.
Rory Stewart has said that his experience in Afghanistan made him a "Burkean conservative".
53.
Rory Stewart tried for selection for the Bracknell constituency in the 2010 general election, but the place went to Phillip Lee.
54.
Rory Stewart was then shortlisted for the Penrith and The Border constituency and, at an open caucus, selected as the candidate on 25 October 2009.
55.
Rory Stewart was returned as the MP for the constituency on 6 May 2010.
56.
At the 2015 general election, Rory Stewart almost doubled his majority in Penrith and the Border from 11,241 to 19,894, the highest majority since the seat was created.
57.
In July 2010, Rory Stewart apologised after blogging about his constituents using twine to hold their trousers up.
58.
Rory Stewart was quoted in the Scottish Sun as saying that "some areas around here are pretty primitive, people holding up their trousers with bits of twine".
59.
Rory Stewart later said that he was making the point that Cumbria's beauty hides its "pockets of poverty".
60.
Rory Stewart was successful in securing the Cumbrian broadband pilot in 2011, and in November 2013, broadband provider EE cited the support of Government and regulatory policy in announcing that over 2,000 residents and businesses in rural Cumbria were to have access to superfast home and office broadband for the first time.
61.
In February 2015, Rory Stewart secured more funding to continue the broadband roll-out in Cumbria.
62.
Rory Stewart was part of the successful campaigns against the closure of the Penrith cinema and fire station, and helped to secure agreement and funding for disabled access at Penrith Station, and the dualling of the A66 road, and for flood defence funding for Cumbria.
63.
Rory Stewart served as the chair of the APPG for Mountain Rescue and the APPG for Local Democracy, and was an officer of the APPG for Rural Services.
64.
Rory Stewart was elected chair of the Defence Select Committee in May 2014.
65.
Rory Stewart left these positions upon his appointment as environment minister.
66.
Rory Stewart led the first backbench motion for expanding broadband and mobile coverage, securing what was then the largest number of cross-party endorsements for a backbench motion.
67.
In January 2014, Rory Stewart was asked by Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Justice, to lead a Government review into the reasons why a number of British veterans become criminal offenders after returning to civilian life.
68.
In May 2014, Rory Stewart was elected by MPs from all parties as chairman of the Defence Select Committee.
69.
Rory Stewart was the youngest chair of a select committee in parliamentary history, as well as the first MP of the 2010 intake to be elected to chair a committee.
70.
In July 2014, Rory Stewart launched Hands Across The Border, a project to construct a cairn called 'The Auld Acquaintance' as "a testament to the Union".
71.
Rory Stewart initiated the Cumbria Floods Partnership in response to Storm Desmond, with a focus on long-term flood defence.
72.
Rory Stewart ensured the extension of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park and supported the UNESCO World Heritage bid for the Lake District.
73.
In 2017, Rory Stewart was promoted to a joint position as a Minister of State in both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development taking over responsibility for the Foreign Office and its embassies in Africa, as well as the Department for International Development programs in Africa.
74.
Rory Stewart was appointed Minister of State for Prisons with responsibility for prisons and probation in England and Wales in January 2018.
75.
Rory Stewart was appointed in the aftermath of a highly critical leaked report on the state of HMP Liverpool, in which the inspector described it as the "worst prison he had ever seen" with piles of rubbish, rats, soaring violence and drug use and poor health provision.
76.
Rory Stewart immediately visited the prison and, testifying before the Justice Select Committee, announced his determination to clean up prisons in England and Wales.
77.
Rory Stewart argued that, despite five years of continuous rise in violence in prisons, it was possible to turn it around.
78.
Rory Stewart argued that it could be done through improving perimeter gate security and by improving training and support of staff.
79.
Rory Stewart undertook to create a new prison officer handbook and a new course at the training college for prison officers.
80.
Rory Stewart pledged, in the same interview, that he would resign if this project was not successful.
81.
In May 2019, Rory Stewart was promoted to the cabinet after the dismissal of Gavin Williamson, replacing the new Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt in the Department for International Development.
82.
Rory Stewart was an alternative governor to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
83.
Rory Stewart was able within a month of taking up the role to enshrined these priorities in his new single departmental plan.
84.
Rory Stewart committed in the House of Commons 'to double spending on climate change prevention because the world faced a "climate cataclysm" and double "the effort that the department puts into that issue".
85.
Concerned about the increase in Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, Rory Stewart increased the UK's contribution to the WHO and Ebola programs, led international meetings to mobilise international donor support for Ebola in Paris and Geneva, working with USAID administrator Mark Green and flew to Goma, Beni and Butembo in Eastern DRC to visit the outbreak sites, and then to Kinshasa where he met with President Tshisekedi.
86.
Rory Stewart felt that he could not serve under his fellow Old Etonian Boris Johnson, who was elected Prime Minister after the resignation of Theresa May, and so resigned from cabinet on 24 July 2019.
87.
Rory Stewart was a candidate in the 2019 Conservative leadership election, announcing his intention to stand in an interview in The Times.
88.
Rory Stewart's candidacy was not initially taken seriously, with a piece in the New Statesman's diary stating that he had a single supporter: himself.
89.
Although, in his podcast, with co-host Alastair Campbell, Rory Stewart claimed that Gove was intentionally wasting his time to better position Boris Johnson in the leadership race.
90.
Rory Stewart stated that he was informed of this decision by text message, while collecting his GQ Politician of the Year Award.
91.
Rory Stewart read out a letter in which a housemaster at Eton College described Boris Johnson as being guilty of "a gross failure of responsibility".
92.
In October 2019, Rory Stewart announced that he was to stand as an independent in the upcoming London mayoral election against incumbent Labour mayor Sadiq Khan and Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.
93.
Rory Stewart planned during his candidacy to walk through each of the 32 London boroughs.
94.
On 6 May 2020, Rory Stewart ended his mayoralty bid, saying he could not maintain a campaign for another year against the large budgets of the Labour and Conservative campaigns.
95.
Rory Stewart stated the COVID-19 pandemic had made it "impossible" to campaign and that he could not ask his unpaid volunteers to continue in their roles for another year.
96.
Rory Stewart supported remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Union.
97.
Rory Stewart argued that although the referendum made it necessary to leave the EU, Britain should seek "to stay very close to Europe diplomatically and politically and economically".
98.
Rory Stewart then became an advocate for the UK remaining in a Customs Union with the European Union, and voted with the Labour Party for a Customs Union amendment in the House of Commons.
99.
Rory Stewart was formally stripped of the Conservative whip, and expelled from the Conservative Party after voting with 20 other Conservative colleagues to try to block a no-deal Brexit.
100.
Rory Stewart has been seen at hunt meets in his local area.
101.
In 2012, Rory Stewart married American Shoshana Clark, a former employee.
102.
Rory Stewart is a member of the Athenaeum Club and the Special Forces Club.
103.
Rory Stewart is said to be proficient in 11 languages, though he claims to be 'mediocre' in several of them.
104.
In March 2022, Rory Stewart launched The Rest is Politics podcast with former Labour Party communications director Alastair Campbell.
105.
Rory Stewart hosted the BBC Radio 4 Podcast The Long History Of Argument where he discussed the history of debates.