Jump to content

Tom Tugendhat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by JamesLeie95 (talk | contribs) at 14:00, 14 July 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Lieutenant Colonel
Tom Tugendhat
MBE VR MP
Official portrait, 2017
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 July 2017
Preceded byCrispin Blunt
Member of Parliament
for Tonbridge and Malling
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJohn Stanley
Majority26,941 (47.3%)
Personal details
Born
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat

(1973-06-27) 27 June 1973 (age 51)
London, England
Citizenship
  • British
  • French
Political partyConservative
SpouseAnissia Morel[1]
Children2
RelativesSir Michael Tugendhat (father) Lord Tugendhat (uncle)
EducationSt Paul's School
Alma materUniversity of Bristol (BA)
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (MPhil)
Websitetomtugendhat.org.uk
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service2003–2013
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Service number560649
UnitTerritorial Army, Adjutant General's Corps
Intelligence Corps
Battles / warsIraq War
War in Afghanistan
AwardsMember of the Order of the British Empire (2010)
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (2013)

Thomas Georg John Tugendhat[2] MBE VR (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee since 2017. Tugendhat has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge and Malling since 2015.[3] Before entering politics, he worked as a journalist and as a public relations consultant in the Middle East. He also had a part-time role as an officer in the British Army reserves, the Territorial Army; he served in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.

On 7 July 2022, Tugendhat declared his intention to be a candidate in the upcoming Conservative Party leadership election, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation.[4]

Early life and education

Tugendhat was born in Westminster, London, the son of Sir Michael Tugendhat, a High Court judge, and his French wife, Blandine de Loisne.[5] He is a nephew of Lord Tugendhat, a businessman, former Vice President of the European Commission[6] and Conservative Party politician. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, an all-boys independent school. He studied theology at the University of Bristol, before doing a Master's degree course in Islamic studies at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and learning Arabic in Yemen.[7]

Military career

Tugendhat (left) in background as General Sir David Richards speaks to the US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in 2013

On 6 July 2003, Tugendhat was commissioned into the Educational and Training Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps, Territorial Army, British Army, as a second lieutenant (on probation).[8] His Territorial Army commission was confirmed on 16 July 2003.[9] He transferred to the Intelligence Corps on 29 July 2003.[10]

Tugendhat was promoted to lieutenant on 16 July 2005,[11] captain on 1 April 2007,[12] and to major on 1 January 2010.[13] He was a Territorial Army lieutenant colonel by July 2013.[14]

Tugendhat served during the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He also served in Afghanistan, in a civilian capacity, for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), and helped set up the National Security Council of Afghanistan and the government in Helmand Province.[15] He later served as one of the military assistants to the Chief of the Defence Staff.[16]

Political career

Tugendhat was elected as the Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling, a safe Conservative seat in Kent, at the 2015 general election.[17] He was selected in an open primary in 2013.[18]

In October 2015, Tugendhat accused Iran of arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan: "Through the Quds Force, the special forces unit of the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, it has killed British troops and plotted to assassinate diplomats in Washington DC. The ayatollahs have nurtured terrorists around the world."[19]

Tugendhat voted against Brexit, supporting continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum.[20] He voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May's government on each of the three occasions it was put to a vote.[21]

Tugendhat is a strong supporter of Israel. He condemned the United Nations Security Council for its official criticism of Israel's building settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.[22] In January 2017, he wrote that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict "doesn't matter" to the protestors of the Arab Spring, and concluded that "Why was it [Israel-Palestine] more pressing than other disputed territories such as Western Sahara, Kashmir or Tibet? It isn't. It simply deflects attention for those most in need of a diversion".[22]

On 12 July 2017, Tugendhat was elected chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, becoming the youngest person ever to hold the post.[23] Soon after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury by a nerve agent, Tugendhat said the attack was "if not an act of war … certainly a warlike act by the Russian Federation".[24]

In February 2018, Tugendhat praised Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: "He is rightly showing a vision for Saudi Arabia that sees her taking her place as a player in the global economy and I think that is incredibly positive, not just for Saudi Arabia, but for the world."[25]

Under Tugendhat's chairmanship the Foreign Affairs Committee has focused on British foreign policy priorities after Brexit.[26] Other significant enquiries have covered: the implications of China's growing role in the international system,[27] the UK's relationship with India,[28] and the Responsibility to Protect.[29]

On 21 May 2018, the Foreign Affairs Committee published a report on Russian corruption and the UK. This drew attention to the ability of President Vladimir Putin and his allies to launder assets through London, and called on the UK Government to "show stronger political leadership in ending the flow of dirty money into the UK".[30] The report criticised the law firm Linklaters for its unwillingness to give evidence to the committee about the nature of working in the Russian Federation at that time.[31]

On 29 May 2018, Tugendhat set out his own views on British foreign policy in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute.[32] He advocated giving the FCO greater powers to determine overall foreign policy strategy.[33]

On 7 November 2018, Tugendhat gave a speech on "community conservatism" at an event organised by the Social Market Foundation.[34] In it he described how his military experience had drawn him into politics and outlined several ways in which the government could encourage businesses to better serve the communities in which they operate.[35]

Tugendhat was a participant at the 30 May–2 June 2019 Bilderberg Meeting in Montreux, Switzerland.[36]

Following the December 2019 general election, Tugendhat criticised the antisemitism he had faced during the campaign: "It was a campaign that wasn't always as clean as previous ones. For the first time I faced antisemitism, which I found particularly offensive and very surprising for a community like this and frankly rather distasteful. It's very un-Tonbridge, it's very un-Kent and it's very un-British. ... I would hope that type of attitude is going to leave our politics for good."[37]

In a recorded conversation with American politician Mike Gallagher, Tugendhat gave an off-the-cuff outline of his foreign policy outlook as "trying to defend the world in which the values that matter to the people of the United Kingdom, and more particularly, the people of Kent, prosper. And those values are freedom, democracy, the ability to challenge authority and the ability to trade and travel globally."[38]

In the wake of the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, Tugendhat described the event in The Times as Britain's "biggest foreign policy disaster since Suez".[39] On 18 August, in the House of Commons, Tugendhat was applauded after giving a speech that drew on his own military experiences in Afghanistan. It concluded, "This doesn't need to be defeat, but right now it damn well feels like it."[40]

In January 2022, Tugendhat stated he would consider running for the office of Prime Minister if Boris Johnson stood down.[41] The following month, he suggested expelling all Russian citizens from the UK in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine[42] subsequently clarifying that he meant "all Russian citizens connected to the Putin regime. It's not a blanket expulsion".

Tugendhat attended the 2022 Bilderberg meeting in Washington, D.C.[43]

On 7 July 2022, Tugendhat announced that he would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party, to take over as Prime Minister from the departing Boris Johnson, in an article published in The Daily Telegraph.[44]

China

In April 2020, Tugendhat founded the China Research Group alongside fellow Conservative MP Neil O'Brien.[45][46] The group was formed to gain a "better understanding of China's economic ambitions and global role". This is to include Huawei's role in the UK's 5G network (see: Concerns over Chinese involvement in 5G wireless networks), China's COVID-19 disinformation campaign, and its foreign policy, in particular its relations with poorer regions of the world.[47][48] Tugendhat is considered by some to be a China hawk in the British Parliament, alongside Bob Seely and Sir Iain Duncan Smith.[49]

In August 2020, Tugendhat received a letter at his home address, sent from Hong Kong and containing a prayer regarding his criticism of China's policies. On Twitter, Tugendhat said that this was sent by the Chinese authorities to threaten him, though this was not independently verified.[50][51]

On 26 March 2021, it was announced that Tugendhat was one of five MPs to be sanctioned by China for spreading what it called "lies and disinformation" about the country. He was subsequently banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with him.[52]

Personal life

Tugendhat holds dual British and French citizenship. His wife Annisia is a French judge and senior civil servant. Her father is Pierre Morel, a French diplomat, and currently (2022) mediator in Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[53] Tugendhat is Catholic. His paternal grandfather was an Austrian Jewish emigrant, from Vienna, who converted to Catholicism.[54][55]

Honours

In the 2010 New Year Honours, Tugendhat was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).[56] In July 2013, he was awarded the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal for ten years' service in the Territorial Army.[57]


Ribbon Description Notes
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)
  • 2010
  • Military Division
Iraq Medal
  • With "19 Mar to 28 Apr 2003" Clasp
Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan)
Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan
  • With clasp "AFGHANISTAN"
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VR)

[58]

See also

References

  1. ^ Olphin, Olivia (11 July 2022). "Who is Tom Tugendhat's wife Anissia Morel? Meet the PM hopeful's family". TheFocus. GRV Media. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
  3. ^ "Tonbridge and Malling constituency profile". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. ^ Tugendhat, Tom (7 July 2022). "I have served before. Now I hope to answer the call as prime minister". The Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Tugendhat, Hon. Sir Michael (George), (born 21 Oct. 1944), a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 2003–14; Judge in charge of Queen's Bench jury and non-jury lists, 2010–14". Who's Who. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U38156.
  6. ^ "Lord Tugendhat: Experience". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  7. ^ Boffey, Daniel (10 May 2015). "How representative are our MPs now?". The Observer. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  8. ^ "No. 57043". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 September 2003. p. 10846.
  9. ^ "No. 58002". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 2006. p. 7725.
  10. ^ "No. 57089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 October 2003. p. 12991.
  11. ^ "No. 58008". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2006. p. 8068.
  12. ^ "No. 59237". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 2009. p. 19393.
  13. ^ "No. 59537". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 September 2010. p. 17234.
  14. ^ "Page 14489 | Supplement 60575, 23 July 2013 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  15. ^ "About". Tom Tugendhat MP. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  16. ^ Kirkup, James (1 November 2013). "Conservatives call up veterans to combat career politicians". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Tonbridge and Malling". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  18. ^ BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-24773555
  19. ^ Tugendhat, Tom (24 October 2015). "Iran's hidden war with the West – and what we can do to fight back". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  20. ^ Gimson, Andrew (7 September 2017). "Profile: Tom Tugendhat, successful insurgent and a possible future Tory leader". Conservative Home. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  21. ^ "How did my MP vote on withdrawal agreement?". BBC News. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  22. ^ a b Tugendhat, Tom (4 January 2017). "Britain was wrong to back the U.N's anti-Israel resolution". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  23. ^ "What do the elections of select committee chairs tell us?". BBC News. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  24. ^ "Russian spy poisoning: Theresa May issues ultimatum to Moscow". The Guardian. London. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  25. ^ "Britain troubled by the threat from Iran, says UK foreign affairs chairman". The National. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  26. ^ "Reports and correspondence – Foreign Affairs Committee". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  27. ^ "China and the Rules-Based International System – Foreign Affairs Committee – House of Commons". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  28. ^ "Building Bridges: Reawakening UK-India ties – Foreign Affairs Committee – House of Commons". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  29. ^ "Global Britain: The Responsibility to Protect and Humanitarian Intervention – Foreign Affairs Committee – House of Commons". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  30. ^ "Moscow's Gold: Russian Corruption in the UK – Foreign Affairs Committee – House of Commons". publications.parliament.uk. 21 May 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  31. ^ "MPs criticise elite law firm Linklaters for work with Putin allies". The Times. London. 21 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  32. ^ "Tom Tugendhat on Defending the Rules". RUSI. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  33. ^ "Boris Johnson 'hobbled by lack of Foreign Office power'". The Guardian. London. 28 May 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  34. ^ "Tom Tugendhat MP's speech for the SMF". Social Market Foundation. 8 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  35. ^ "Look to Greggs for inspiration to make country fairer, Tory MP says". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Press Association. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  36. ^ "Participants". bilderbergmeetings.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  37. ^ "MP reveals he suffered antisemitism during election campaign". Kent Online. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  38. ^ "A new look at the United Kingdom with Tom Tugendhat". Radio Public. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  39. ^ Tugendhat, Tom (16 August 2021). "Tom Tugendhat on Afghanistan: Six decades after Suez, we remain impotent in the face of US policy". The Times. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  40. ^ "Boris Johnson feels MPs' anger during Afghanistan debate". BBC News. 18 August 2021. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  41. ^ "Downing Street parties: Senior Tories demand full Sue Gray report". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Tom Tugendhat: The West should expel Russian ambassadors and agents". New Statesman. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  43. ^ "Participants". Bilderberg Meetings. Archived from the original on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  44. ^ Tugendhat, Tom (7 July 2022). "I have served before. Now I hope to answer the call as prime minister". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  45. ^ Timsit, Annabelle (18 May 2021). "Glossary: The jargon, acronyms, and historical terms that frame the UK-China relationship". Quartz. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  46. ^ Timsit, Annabelle (18 May 2021). "Tom Tugendhat, the politician warning of China's 'cage-rattling'". Quartz. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  47. ^ "Coronavirus: Tory MPs to examine 'rise of China'". BBC News. 25 April 2020. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  48. ^ Pamilih, Julia. "China Research Group News". chinaresearchgroup.substack.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  49. ^ "Chinaskepticism is the new Euroskepticism". POLITICO. 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  50. ^ @tomtugendhat (30 August 2020). "I'm getting letters sent from Hong Kong to my home. The content is anodyne but the message from @AmbLiuXiaoMing's Ministry of State Security friends is clear. "I know where you live" is something I've heard before. Threatening elected politicians is interference. It must stop" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  51. ^ Woodcock, Andrew (30 August 2020). "Tory MP claims anonymous letters from Hong Kong are bid by Beijing to intimidate him". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  52. ^ "Uighurs: China bans UK MPs after abuse sanctions". BBC News. 26 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  53. ^ "Formal Minutes" (PDF). Foreign Affairs Select Committee. p. 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  54. ^ "My name teaches me old hate is still alive". blogs.timesofisrael.com. 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  55. ^ May, Luke (13 December 2019). "Conservative Tom Tugendhat suffered antisemitism during Tonbridge and Malling General Election 2019 campaign". Kent Online. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  56. ^ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2009. p. 5.
  57. ^ "No. 60575". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 2013. p. 14489.
  58. ^ "Photograph of Tom Tugendhat's Military Uniform". Twitter. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Tom Tugendhat.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Tonbridge and Malling
2015–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Tugendhat&oldid=1098163220"