Theo Clarke
Theo Clarke | |
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Member of Parliament for Stafford | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Jeremy Lefroy |
Majority | 14,377 (28.1%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Theodora Roosevelt Clarke 4 August 1985 |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Relations |
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Education | Downe House School |
Alma mater | Newcastle University Courtauld Institute of Art |
Theodora Roosevelt Clarke[1] (born 4 August 1985)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford since the 2019 general election. Prior to her political career, she worked in the arts industry and founded the campaign group Coalition for Global Prosperity.
Early life and career
Clarke grew up in the village of Bibury in Gloucestershire.[3][4] She is the daughter of Sir Charles Mansfield Tobias Clarke, 6th Baronet and his second wife Teresa de Chair, a daughter of Somerset de Chair. Her younger brother is former athlete Lawrence Clarke.[4][5] Clarke also has a younger sister, Augusta.[4] She is the niece, by marriage, of the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg.[6] Clarke is a distant relative of US Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt.[5][7]
She was privately educated at Downe House School in Newbury, Berkshire.[8] She studied art history at Newcastle University[7] and the Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in Russian Art. Clarke worked for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the British auction house Christie's before founding Russian Art and Culture, an online arts magazine in 2011.[9][10] She was also a co-founder of the Association of Women in the Arts,[11] and later founded the Coalition for Global Prosperity.[12][13] As part of her work at the campaign group she volunteered in Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak.[14]
Parliamentary career
Clarke decided to enter politics after witnessing the parliamentary expenses scandal.[14] She contested the Bristol East seat at the 2015 and 2017 general elections as the Conservative Party candidate, but was unsuccessful.[15] The party selected her as the candidate for Stafford on 26 September 2019.[16] The incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy had previously announced that he would be standing down at the next election.[17] She was elected as Stafford's MP in the 2019 general election with a majority of 14,377 (28.1%),[18] the largest in the constituency's history.[14]
Clarke has been a member of the International Development Committee since March 2020.[19] She identifies ideologically as a one-nation conservative.[14]
References
- ^ "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ "Theo Clarke". Stafford Conservatives. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "Lawrence Clarke's Christening". Tatler. 14 December 1990. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Team GB captain Lawrence Clarke's near-death experience inspires him on the track". The Daily Telegraph. 5 March 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ Perraudin, Frances (14 November 2019). "Unexpected candidates: from Count Binface to Rees-Mogg's niece". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ a b Daly, Patrick (25 May 2017). "Tory candidate Theo Clarke claims to live 'near Stockwood' - she actually lives on 'Uncle' Jacob Rees Moggs' estate in North East Somerset". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Our Year". Downe House School Magazine. p. 153. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Theodora Clarke". Russian Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "About us". Russian Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Founding Members". Association of Women in the Arts. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ Clarke, Theo (11 July 2018). "Theo Clarke: Our army and our aid workers are both essential to the UK's security". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Our Team". Coalition for Global Prosperity. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d Madeley, Peter (6 March 2020). "New Stafford MP Theo Clarke: Time for actions, not words". Express & Star. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Bristol East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Tories select election candidate to replace Jeremy Lefroy in Stafford". Express & Star. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy to step down at next general election". BBC News. 14 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- ^ "Stafford". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "International Development Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
External links
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Living people
- UK MPs 2019–
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Daughters of baronets
- 21st-century British women politicians
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford
- 1985 births
- 21st-century English women
- 21st-century English people
- Conservative MP for England stubs
- UK MPs 2019–present stubs
- Conservative MP (UK) stubs