Alex Burghart


Michael Alex Burghart is a British Conservative Party politician who was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar at the December 2019 general election, having first been elected in June 2017. He became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019. Burghart was formerly a teacher, university lecturer and special adviser to Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May.

Early life

Burghart was born in Dorset in 1977, the son of two state-school teachers. He attended Millfield School in Somerset, having gained a scholarship to the school. Burghart read History at Christ Church, Oxford. He completed his PhD at King's College London in 2007 entitled "The Mercian polity, 716-918".

Career

Academic

After university, Burghart taught history at Warwick School before becoming a history tutor at King's College, London. In 2005 he was the lead researcher for the King's College, London project on interrogating Anglo-Saxon charters using digital technologies.

Policy Adviser

Burghart became a political and policy adviser to Tim Loughton MP, then Shadow Minister for Children and Young People in 2008. He moved on to the Department for Education, where he worked on the Munro Review of Child Protection
After working for Barnardo's as a Policy and Parliamentary Adviser. In 2012 Burghart became Director of Policy, Centre for Social Justice
In February 2016 Burghart was appointed Director of Strategy and Advocacy for the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield. Later that year he became part of Prime Minister Theresa May's policy team.

Politics

Burghart stood against Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North in 2015. He told the Islington Gazette that, if elected, the first thing he would do would be, "Dance a jig ". Although he was not elected, Burghart increased the Conservative share of the vote from 14.2% to 17.2%.
He was selected for the Brentwood and Ongar seat under by-election rules on 28 April 2017 following the decision by the Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles to stand down at the 2017 General Election.
Burghart was re-elected on 12 December 2019 with an increased majority of 29065.
Burghart has been a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. He chairs the APPG on Adverse Childhood Experiences and was made PPS to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019. He was previously PPS to the former Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, and to the former Northern Ireland Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP.

Writing

Burghart is the author of 'A Better Start in Life: Long-term approaches for the most vulnerable children', published by Policy Exchange in 2013. Burghart has written extensively about early medieval England, writing for The Times Literary Supplement for over 12 years, The Spectator and BBC History.

Personal life

Alex moved to the constituency in May 2017. He and his family now live near Ongar. He is married to Hermione Eyre, the daughter of Sir Reginald Eyre, former Conservative MP for Birmingham Hall Green, and has two children.
Burghart has sat on the Board of the Yarlington Housing Group and was Vice Chair of Governors at Queensmill School for children with autism.