James Cleverly

James Spencer Cleverly TD VR (born 4 September 1969) is a British politician and Army Reserve officer. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Braintree in Essex since 2015. Cleverly advocated a vote for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum. In September 2022, he was appointed Foreign Secretary by Prime Minister Liz Truss, making him the first British foreign secretary of African heritage. Retained as foreign secretary when Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, Cleverly was appointed Home Secretary as part of the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, a post he retained until the 2024 general election. Following Labour's return to government after the election, Cleverly was an unsuccessful leadership election candidate.

James Cleverly (2020)

Quotes

• They want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure and enjoy themselves, and they know that that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own.
  One of the things I would say for football fans is, you know, please do be respectful of the host nation. They are trying to ensure that people can be themselves and enjoy the football, and I think with a little bit of flex and compromise at both ends, it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.
  • Speaking on LBC as cited in "LGBT football fans should ‘flex and compromise’ at Qatar World Cup, James Cleverly claims", The Independent (26 October 2022)
  • Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell had been arrested for staging a protest on the issue.

• I had to ring my private secretary in the Foreign Office saying 'can you cancel meetings because I need to go home', and he said 'is everything okay minister?'
  I tried to say Susie might have cancer, I just couldn't get the words out, I couldn't speak - I like to talk, but I just couldn't speak.
  I said I'll text you, and, you know, this organisation is amazing. Liz Truss was my boss at the time, she was absolutely amazing.
  I went home, Susie and I talked it through, and I tried to ring again to explain what was going on - and I still couldn't say a word.
  For the next couple of hours everything was done on WhatsApp, and it really hit me, I never felt anything like that before.
  • From an interview with Beth Rigby of Sky News, as cited in "Foreign Secretary James Cleverly feared losing his wife after her breast cancer diagnosis", Sky News (11 November 2022).
  • By April 2023, Susie Cleverly had finished treatment for her illness.

• [Referring to his wife] a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night [was] was not really illegal if it's only a little bit.
• [Ensuring a long marriage means your wife is] someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there.
  • Comments to a female audience at a reception at 10 Downing Street (18 December 2023), as cited in "Home Secretary James Cleverly criticised over drink spiking joke", BBC News (24 December 2023)
  • New measures to tackle drink spiking had been announced by Cleverly in the House of Commons a few hours earlier. Rohypnol is used as a date rape drug. Still legitimately prescribed as a sedative in the UK, according to The Times of London, possession without medical use carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment.

• I disregard much of what Nigel [Farage] says. He's a showman. He likes getting attention.
  He does things and says things so broadcasters like you ask serious politicians like me questions like this. And, the bottom line is, I'm just not going to play Nigel's game.
  He does these things to get attention. And, just like a spoiled child, I don't think he should be rewarded for doing so.
  • From an interview, as cited in "'Spoiled child' Farage should not be allowed to join Tories, says Cleverly", The Telegraph (10 June 2024).
  • The prime minister Rishi Sunak received much media attention for leaving the Normandy D-Day commemorations before they ended. In response, Farage said Sunak "doesn’t understand our culture." Farage was a candidate at the (then forthcoming) general election on 4 July and Reform, his party, in the opinion polls was not far behind the Conservatives (who were predicted to loose badly).

• We need to get back on track but before we can do that, there's something we need to say: sorry.
  Sorry on behalf of the Conservative parliamentary party who let you down, and we have to be better, much better, and under my leadership, we will be.
  The British people are never wrong. The British people told us to go and sort ourselves out. Let’s not make them tell us again.
• Let’s be enthusiastic, relatable, positive, optimistic. Let's be more normal.
  • From his speech at the Conservative Party conference, Birmingham (2 October 2024), as cited by Rhiannon James in "James Cleverly urges Tory members to be 'more normal'", The Standard (2 October 2024).