Barclay was appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union by Theresa May following the resignation of Dominic Raab in November 2018. He was retained in the position by Boris Johnson and remained in office until the United Kingdom officially left the EU on 31 January 2020. Barclay quickly returned to the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle. He was later promoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle. In February 2022, Barclay also assumed the responsibilities of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, following the resignation of Dan Rosenfield. In July 2022, he became Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the resignation of Sajid Javid; he was removed from the position by Johnson's successor Liz Truss in September 2022. In October 2022, following Truss's resignation, he was reappointed to the role by new prime minister Rishi Sunak. He was later appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle.
Early life and education
Stephen Barclay was born on 3 May 1972 in Lytham, Lancashire.[4] His father worked in IT for 55 years, during which he was seconded for three years to the company's staff association, which later became the Banking and Insurance Union. His mother worked full-time as a civil service administrator.[5] He is the youngest of three brothers.[6]
ConservativeHome named him in September 2012 as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any substantive rebellions.[14]
Barclay was re-elected as MP for North East Cambridgeshire at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 55.1% and an increased majority of 16,874.[15] He was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 64.4% and an increased majority of 21,270.[16]
At the 2019 general election, Barclay was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 72.5% and an increased majority of 29,993.[19]
He ceased to be Brexit Secretary at 11:00 pm on 31 January 2020, the moment the Department for Exiting the European Union was closed down as the UK formally left the EU.
In May 2020, Barclay appeared on BBC's Question Time and was corrected by presenter Fiona Bruce about the number of people who had received the Government's COVID-19 testing.[20]
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Downing Street Chief of Staff
On 5 July 2022, Barclay was appointed Health Secretary after Sajid Javid's resignation on 3 July.[25] According to the editor of the Health Service Journal "never has a politician arrived in the post of health secretary trailing a worse reputation among NHS leaders".[26]
In August 2022, Barclay announced that more than 50 new surgical hubs would open in England to help tackle a backlog of treatments following the COVID-19 pandemic.[27]
On 6 September 2022, Barclay left the government and returned to the backbenches.[28]
Second term (2022–2023)
He was reappointed by Rishi Sunak when Sunak became prime minister on 25 October 2022. Chief executive officer of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, said: "Mr Barclay would do well to remember that he is taking on one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world".[29] In April 2023, The Guardian reported that unnamed sources said concerns had been raised about Barclay's alleged conduct towards civil servants. The Department of Health and Social Care said it had not received any formal complaints about the behaviour of its ministers.[30] On 13 November 2023, he left his role as Health Secretary to take up a different cabinet position.[31]
Environment Secretary
On 13 November 2023 in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's November cabinet reshuffle Barclay was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,[31] considered to be a demotion from his former Health role.[32] Conflict-of-interest concerns were immediately raised by his appointment, as his wife was an executive of Anglian Water, one of the UK water companies perceived to be responsible for widespread and prolonged environmental damage. He also had final say on the Development Consent Order (DCO) for Anglian Water's relocation to the Cambridge green belt of the current fully functional Waste Water Treatment Plant costing hundreds of millions of pounds.[33]
Despite these concerns, in 2024 he announced a block on bonuses' payouts to executives of water companies which are polluting rivers, lakes and seas.[34]
^ ab"Barclay, Stephen Paul, (born 1972), MP (C) North East Cambridgeshire, since 2010; Economic Secretary to HM Treasury, since 2017". Who's Who. 2010. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251452.
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