Robert Jenrick

Robert Edward Jenrick (born 9 January 1982) is an English politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark since the 2014 by-election. Elected as a member of the Conservative Party, he joined Reform in January 2026. He served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Immigration from 2022 to 2023 in the Sunak ministry and as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government from 2019 to 2021 in the first and second Johnson ministries. He also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2018 to 2019 in the second May ministry and as Minister of State for Health from September to October 2022 in the Truss ministry. In opposition, he served in the Badenoch shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor from 2024 until 2026. Born in Wolverhampton, Jenrick attended St John's College, Cambridge, where he read history, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied political science. He then studied law, qualified as a solicitor, and practised corporate law with Skadden Arps and Sullivan & Cromwell in London and Moscow. He was elected as the MP for Newark at the 2014 by-election following the resignation of the Conservative Patrick Mercer after a cash-for-lobbying scandal. From 2015 to 2018 Jenrick was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Esther McVey, Michael Gove and Liz Truss, and Amber Rudd. He served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury under Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond from 2018 to 2019. In July 2019, Boris Johnson appointed Jenrick to be Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government; he held this position until he was dismissed in September 2021. Jenrick returned to government in September 2022 as Minister of State for Health under Truss and was appointed to a cabinet attending role as...