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Mel Stride

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The Right Honourable
Mel Stride
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 November 2024
LeaderKemi Badenoch
Preceded byJeremy Hunt
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
8 July 2024 – 4 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byLiz Kendall
Succeeded byHelen Whately
Ministerial offices
2015‍–‍2024
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
25 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byChloe Smith
Succeeded byLiz Kendall
Leader of the House of Commons
Lord President of the Council
In office
23 May 2019 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byAndrea Leadsom
Succeeded byJacob Rees-Mogg
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Paymaster General
In office
13 June 2017 – 23 May 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byBen Gummer
Jane Ellison
Succeeded byJesse Norman
Comptroller of the Household
In office
17 July 2016 – 12 June 2017
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byGavin Barwell
Succeeded byChris Pincher
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
13 May 2015 – 17 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byHarriett Baldwin
Succeeded byAndrew Griffiths
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee
In office
23 October 2019 – 25 October 2022
Preceded byNicky Morgan
Succeeded byHarriett Baldwin
Member of Parliament
for Central Devon
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byConstituency created
Majority61 (0.1%)
Personal details
Born (1961-09-30) 30 September 1961 (age 63)
Ealing, Middlesex, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseMichelle Stride
Children3
Alma materSt Edmund Hall, Oxford (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Melvyn John Stride[1] (born 30 September 1961)[2] is a British politician who has served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Kemi Badenoch’s Shadow Cabinet since November 2024.[3] A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010.

He previously served in the May Government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General from 2017 to 2019 and as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from May to July 2019. From 2019 to 2022 he sat as a backbencher, serving as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. From October 2022 to July 2024, during the government of Rishi Sunak, Stride served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. After the Conservative Party's loss in the 2024 general election, Stride became the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Sunak's shadow cabinet. He later launched his bid to become Leader of the Conservative Party but was eliminated on the second MP's ballot. Upon Kemi Badenoch's victory in the 2024 leadership election, Stride was appointed as Shadow Chancellor in her shadow cabinet.

Early life and career

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Melvyn Stride was born in Ealing on 30 September 1961.[4] He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, and then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford,[5] where he was elected President of the Oxford Union. In 1987, Stride set up a business specialising in trade exhibitions, conferences and publishing (Venture Marketing Group) which he and his wife jointly controlled[6] before selling it to a United States subsidiary.[7]

Parliamentary career

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Stride was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Central Devon in June 2006 after his name was added to the Conservative A-List in 2006.[8] He was the first A-Lister to be selected.[9]

At the 2010 general election, Stride was elected as MP for Central Devon with 51.5% of the vote and a majority of 9,230.[10]

On 28 October 2011, Stride was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes.[11]

At the 2015 general election, Stride was re-elected as MP for Central Devon with an increased vote share of 52.2% and an increased majority of 21,265.[12] Stride was promoted to the frontbench as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury after the election. Stride was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[13]

Stride was appointed Comptroller of the Household following the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister.

At the snap 2017 general election, Stride was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54.1% and a decreased majority of 15,680.[14] He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 55.3% and an increased majority of 17,721.[15] At the 2024 general election, Stride was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 31.5% and a decreased majority of 61.[16]

Ministerial career: 2017–2019

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Following the 2017 general election, Stride was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury.[17] In this role in April 2019, Stride was accused by MPs of breaking the Ministerial Code over comments he had made in relation to the Loan Charge.[18][19] Stride was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council on 23 May 2019, following the resignation of Andrea Leadsom.[20] Stride endorsed Michael Gove to become Leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 leadership election. Following Boris Johnson's election as party leader and appointment as Prime Minister he was dismissed from his role as Leader of the House of Commons and replaced by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Backbencher: 2019–2022

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On 23 October 2019, Stride was elected Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, replacing Nicky Morgan.[21] Stride supported Rishi Sunak in the July-September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, serving as his campaign chief, and lent his support to him again in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22][23]

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: 2022–2024

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Upon the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, Stride returned to the frontbench having been appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.[24] In September 2023, Stride commented on the state pension system in the United Kingdom. Stride said that the triple lock system was not sustainable in the long term. The comments came in response to reports that the government was considering scrapping the mechanism used to uprate the state pension having seen several years of large increases.[25][needs update]

In opposition

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Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Stride was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet. On 26 July 2024, Stride announced he was running in the 2024 leadership election to be the new Conservative Party leader.[26][27] During the first MP's ballot, Stride achieved the second lowest number of votes at 16.[28] He came last in the second MP's ballot, remaining at 16 votes and was eliminated.[29]

On 4 November 2024, Stride was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Kemi Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet.[30]

Personal life

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Stride is married to Michelle (born 1975)[31] and has three daughters.[32] In 1984, in Llandudno, he set a new world record by placing 78 cashew nuts into his navel. The record still stands.

References

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  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8740.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  3. ^ "Politics latest: Badenoch puts two leadership rivals into her top team - including a big name comeback". Sky News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  4. ^ "findmypast.co.uk". search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Teddy Hall MPs Re-Elected in 2019 General Election". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. ^ "VENTURE MARKETING GROUP LIMITED persons with significant control – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  7. ^ "About Mel Stride MP".
  8. ^ Rosemary Bennett, The A-list[dead link‍] in The Times dated 12 June 2006, at timesonline.co.uk
  9. ^ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats". conservativehome.blogs.com. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Mel Stride has become the first Central Devon MP". North Devon Journal. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Devon Central parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  15. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  16. ^ "Central Devon Electoral Results". BBC. 2024.
  17. ^ Treanor, Jill. "Ex-Barclays director who backed Vote Leave appointed City minister". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group Loan Charge Inquiry" (PDF). Retrieved 8 April 2019. The Loan Charge Inquiry has concluded that the way the Financial Secretary to the Treasury has handled the Loan Charge, including demonstrably seeking to mislead over convictions that he knew are not related to loan arrangements, constitutes a breach of the Ministerial Code.
  19. ^ Agyemang, Emma (3 April 2019). "MPs call for delay to loan charge over alleged 'cover up' by HMRC". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  20. ^ Wills, Ella (23 May 2019). "Mel Stride appointed new Commons Leader after Andrea Leadsom quit". msn.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  21. ^ Hossein-Pour, Anahita (23 October 2019). "Mel Stride wins race to succeed Nicky Morgan as Treasury Committee chair". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  22. ^ Parsley, David (2 August 2022). "Conservative leadership: Rishi Sunak has momentum and can stop Liz Truss, campaign head claims". The i. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Sunak or Mordaunt: who is backing whom as next Tory leader?". The Guardian. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  24. ^ Adu, Aletha; Elgot, Jessica; Allegretti, Aubrey (25 October 2022). "Who is in and who is out? Key figures in Rishi Sunak's cabinet". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  25. ^ Frank-Keyes, Jessica (12 September 2023). "Pensions secretary: Triple lock has 'very long term' question marks as cost spirals". CityAM. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Stride announces Conservative leadership bid". BBC News. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Mel Stride becomes fourth Tory MP to enter leadership race". Sky News. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Robert Jenrick in pole position to be next Tory leader as Priti Patel eliminated in first round of voting". Independent.co.uk. 4 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Mel Stride out as four left in Tory leadership contest". BBC News. 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Patel and Stride get jobs in Badenoch's top team". BBC News. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  31. ^ "VENTURE MARKETING GROUP LIMITED persons with significant control – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
  32. ^ "Conservatives hang on to Central Devon despite big losses". Crediton Courier. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mel Stride.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Central Devon
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Comptroller of the Household
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Paymaster General
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the Treasury
2017–2019
Preceded by Leader of the House of Commons
2019 		Succeeded by
Lord President of the Council
2019
Preceded by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2022–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
2024–present 		Incumbent
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