1. Early life and career

2. Political career
    MP for Hornchurch  MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup  Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime Reduction  Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime and Security  Minister of State for Security and Immigration  Northern Ireland Secretary   Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary  

3. Personal life

4. References

5. External links

Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Brokenshire studied law at the University of Exeter before beginning work with a large international law firm. Deciding on a career in politics, he stood successfully as the Conservative candidate for the parliamentary constituency of Hornchurch in the 2005 general election. When his constituency was to be abolished in the boundary changes, he sought out another constituency to represent, failing to be selected in six constituencies until being selected for Old Bexley and Sidcup. He was elected MP for the area in 2010, on a campaign devoted to preventing the closure of accident and emergency services at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, a policy on which he was unsuccessful.

In the frontbench team of David Cameron, he was Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime Reduction, and in May 2011 was transferred to the position of Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime and Security. He oversaw the closure and privatisation of the Forensic Science Service and championed the Modern Slavery Bill. In February 2014, he was appointed Minister for Security and Immigration. In July 2016, under Theresa May's new cabinet, he was appointed the Northern Ireland Secretary.^[2] He stood down from this role in January 2018 on health grounds and was replaced by Karen Bradley. In April 2018, he was appointed Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government following Sajid Javid's appointment to Home Secretary as a result of Amber Rudd's resignation.

Early life and career

Brokenshire was born on 8 January 1968,^[4] in the town of Southend-on-Sea, Essex.^[6] He was educated at Davenant Foundation Grammar School in Loughton and then at the Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies.^[5] He went on to gain a degree in law at the University of Exeter.^[5]

Brokenshire subsequently worked as a partner at international law firm Jones Day. In this position, he advised on company law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance transactions.^[5][6]

Political career

MP for Hornchurch

Brokenshire was first elected at the 2005 general election to the parliamentary constituency of Hornchurch, defeating the Labour candidate and incumbent member John Cryer by 480 votes.^[7] The election itself resulted in a third successive term for Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour government. From 2005 to 2006, Brokenshire was a member of the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.^[5] From 2006 to 2010 he then served as the Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction.^[5]

Brokenshire was aware that his constituency, Hornchurch, was to be dissolved for the next election. In November 2006, he applied for selection as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Witham in Essex, but was defeated by Priti Patel.^[8] He simultaneously campaigned to be selected as Conservative candidate for the constituency of Hornchurch and Upminster, but in March 2007 was defeated there by Angela Watkinson.^[9]

He next applied for Gillingham and Rainham in July 2007, Grantham and Stamford in October 2007, North East Cambridgeshire in January 2008, and Maidstone and The Weald later that same month. He was unsuccessful in all of these attempts.^[16]

MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup

In the 2010 general election, Brokenshire was elected for Old Bexley and Sidcup with 24,625 votes (53.93%), beating the Labour candidate Rick Everitt, in second place with 8,768 votes (19.21%). Voter turnout was 69.13%.^[4][13] Upon victory, Brokenshire announced that as per his pre-election pledges, his priority would be to prevent the proposed closure of accident and emergency services at local Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup.^[13] The hospital's A&E department was closed in November of the same year.^[14]

Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime Reduction

With no party gaining an overall majority in the House of Commons, the 2010 election resulted in the formation of a coalition government consisting of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The new PM appointed Brokenshire as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction in the Home Office.^[5]

One of his first moves was to initiate the closing of the United Kingdom's Forensic Science Service; it had been making operational losses of £2 million a month, and was predicted to go into administration in early 2011. Brokenshire stated his desire that there would be "no continuing state interest in a forensics provider by March 2012", with the service's role being taken on by private enterprise. Critics asserted that this move would result in the loss of hundreds of jobs and the degradation of forensic research and criminal justice, with an MPs enquiry chaired by Labour MP Andrew Miller criticising the manner in which the closure had been overseen.^[15][16][17]

In August 2010, Brokenshire called for the government to adopt a new approach to the war on drugs in Britain; he argued that they should focus on getting addicts off drugs, rather than minimising the effects of drug use, as the preceding Labour government had focused on.^[18]

Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime and Security

In May 2011, Brokenshire's Home Office brief was changed from Crime Reduction to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime and Security following the resignation of Baroness Neville-Jones, although he was not appointed to the more senior rank of Minister of State.^[19]

In this position, he was responsible for updating plans to tackle terror content online. A move seen as controversial by broadband companies and freedom of speech groups.^[20]

In the buildup to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he stated his belief that the games would be a "great success", largely due to the government's security measures. He also commented that "I think it will bring Bexley together and the torch relay will be a fantastic event for the community ... I'm quite sure it will have a lasting impression."^[21]

In October 2013, Brokenshire published a draft of a proposed Modern Slavery Bill,^[22] designed to tackle slavery in the UK He was quoted as saying that the Bill will "send the strongest possible message to criminals that if you are involved in this disgusting trade in human beings, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up."^[23] Experts in the issue were sceptical of the Bill, believing that it had many shortcomings and was designed largely to enhance Theresa May's career.^[24] The bill was subsequently enacted as the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

In January 2014, Brokenshire called on National Rail to improve its services, after statistics were published revealing that rail services across Bexley Borough had worsened throughout 2013.^[25]

Minister of State for Security and Immigration

Brokenshire assumed the enlarged role of Minister for Security and Immigration on 8 February 2014 following the resignation of Mark Harper.^[26]

Northern Ireland Secretary

In July 2016, under Theresa May's new cabinet, Brokenshire was appointed the Northern Ireland Secretary.^[2] On 16 January 2017, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed following the resignation of Martin McGuinness as deputy First Minister one week earlier, and the refusal of Sinn Féin to nominate a successor. Brokenshire, as Northern Ireland Secretary, temporarily assumed the powers of the Executive and called for snap elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which took place on 2 March 2017.^[27]

Brokenshire's comments in The Sunday Telegraph of 28 January 2017 sparked consternation and outrage in Northern Ireland:

Writing in the Telegraph, James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland Secretary, concedes there is an apparent "imbalance" that has led to a "disproportionate" focus on criminal inquiries involving former soldiers. "I am clear the current system is not working and we are in danger of seeing the past rewritten."^[28][29]

Recently retired SDLP MLA Alban Maginness retorted that:

There is a clear intention on his part to be seen as a firmly pro-DUP Secretary of State. If he does not make some effort to be a neutral British Government representative, then he will find himself hopelessly entrapped in the mess himself. It is scarcely surprising that the collapse of Stormont happened on his watch and he cannot not regard himself as blameless in that regard. Stoking DUP paranoia and feeding the erroneous view that dealing with the past is "disproportionately focused on the police and the Army" is very foolish indeed. The actions of the Army and the RUC will necessarily be integral to the process of investigating the past. This is as unavoidable, as will be the investigation of the Provisional IRA and the loyalist paramilitary actions. Those in the Army who have allegedly committed crimes will be tried and, if found guilty, will be properly sentenced for those offences. That is called "due process" and no soldier or police officer can be immune from that, in the same way as no IRA man or UVF man can be immune from justice.^[30]}}

Following a question from MP Sylvia Hermon, Brokenshire offered his "clear and unequivocal" support for the Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan.^[31] Sir Declan had earlier criticised Brokenshire for refusing funding for cases and thereby adding to case backlogs^[32] when Brokenshire refused to grant £10 million to pay for an inquest into the deaths of eleven civilians shot dead by British forces in 1971 in the Ballymurphy massacre.^[33]

Brian Feeney in The Irish News accused Brokenshire of "ineptitude ... [though] no one would give him the credit of even being aware of the coincidence of the date he chose, when British soldiers killed most innocent victims in Ireland." (see Bloody Sunday),^[34] while the Belfast Telegraph editorial accused the minister of "playing a dangerous game":

The Secretary of State ... has created further controversy around an already contentious subject. It is an unusual move and by doing so, he has opened himself up to allegations that he is taking sides. He has also put at risk the impartiality with which Secretaries of State are expected to deal with Northern Ireland affairs.^[35]

Brokenshire resigned as Northern Ireland Secretary on 8 January 2018 on health grounds due to an upcoming lung operation.^[3] On 20 January it was announced that he had the operation and had been discharged from hospital.^[36]

Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary

In April 2018, Brokenshire was appointed as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government following Sajid Javid's appointment as Home Secretary in the light of Amber Rudd's resignation after the Windrush scandal. After his appointment Brokenshire said it was "a real honour" to make a quick return to the cabinet.

Hours after taking on the new role Brokenshire appeared in Parliament and stated, after a question from Andrew Gwynne Labour's shadow communities secretary, that "local government is in my blood".

Under his watch the Tenant Fees Act was passed which, among other provisions, caps the deposit a landlord or a letting agency may impose on a new tenant.^[37]

Personal life

Brokenshire married Cathrine Anne Mamelok in 1999.^[38] They have two daughters and a son.^[5]

He has expressed support for the charity Cancer Research UK and in March 2013 publicly backed their Cell Slider website, calling on all of his constituents to get involved in the initiative.^[39]

In December 2017, Brokenshire noted blood in his cough and underwent testing that discovered that he had early stage lung cancer. He had the upper lobe of his right lung removed at Guy's Hospital and returned to Parliament five weeks later. Brokenshire said that he wanted to end the social stigma around lung cancer because, like fifteen percent of people with the disease, he has never smoked.^[40]

References

External links

• Official website
• {{UK MP links |parliament=james-brokenshire/1530 |publicwhip=James_Brokenshire |theywork=james_brokenshire}}
• [https://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Members_of_Parliament/Brokenshire_James.aspx Profile] on the Conservative Party website
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: James Brokenshire MP

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