Alex Burghart: Have the Tories found a new rising star?

Who exactly is Alex Burghart? Could the Conservative Party have discovered a promising new talent?

Alex who? Veteran politicians often like to poke fun at the young newcomers in the political scene, many of whom aren’t very well-known. In fact, he’s not even recognized by most people in his own hometown.

He has been part of Kemi's group for quite some time and stepped down from Boris Johnson's government alongside the future leader of the Conservative Party due to the Chris Pincher scandal in 2022.

At 47 years old, Mr. Burghart appears to be younger than his age. In 2017, he took over from the prominent Conservative figure Eric Pickles as the Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar, which is located on the edge of London and Essex.

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Having completed his studies at Millfield, he is a knowledgeable historian with a Bachelor’s degree from Oxford and a PhD from King’s College, London. He has contributed articles to both BBC History and the Times Literary Supplement.

However, before his remarkable performance as Kemi Badenoch's replacement against Angela Rayner during Prime Minister's Questions, his rise through the ranks of politics had been commendable yet unremarkable.

He started his career as a history teacher and a university lecturer before joining Iain Duncan Smith's Centre for Social Justice think tank, where he focused on issues related to at-risk children and wrote a book on the topic.

He previously served under Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, before taking on the role of special adviser on social policy for Theresa May when she assumed the position of prime minister in 2016.

After joining parliament, he served as an unpaid assistant to attorneys general Geoffrey Cox and Jeremy Wright, as well as Karen Bradley, who was the secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

He got his major opportunity when Boris Johnson was appointed prime minister in 2019 and appointed him as his parliamentary private secretary (PPS). Two years later, he was promoted to a junior minister role in the education sector, where he took charge of apprenticeships.

However, his journey toward significant roles came to an end when he, alongside Kemi Badenoch and her close associates Neil O'Brien, Lee Rowley, and Julia Lopez, resigned in protest over the Pincher scandal involving misconduct.

Rishi Sunak assigned him to less high-profile roles, first as the junior minister for pensions and then as a junior minister in the Cabinet Office. It wasn't until the election on July 4th of this year that he became a member of the shadow cabinet.

Similar to many rising Conservative MPs, Mr. Burghart is connected to a prominent Tory family through marriage. His wife, journalist and author Hermione Gingold, is the daughter of the late Tory MP Sir Reg Eyre, who was part of the administrations of Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher.

Despite having a somewhat quiet career so far, Mr. Burghart has certainly made his presence known to his fellow MPs. He delivered a bold and impactful performance during Prime Minister's Questions, where he took the opportunity to accuse the Labour Party of failing to keep their promises and waging a war against farmers.

Several sources suggested that he was more successful than Ms. Badenoch, whose performances in her initial two encounters with Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions have not been particularly impressive.

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Following this initial performance, he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on. Some members of the Conservative Party have even hinted that if Kemikaze— as her critics harshly refer to her— stumbles, he could be in line to become the next party leader.

That's quite a compliment! But what about a potential face-off between Alex Burghart and Labour's rising star Darren Jones for the No. 10 position in the next general election?