James Brokenshire

Early life and career

Brokenshire was born on 8 January 1968, in the town of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He was educated at Davenant Foundation Grammar School in Loughton and then at the Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies. He went on to gain a degree in law at the University of Exeter.

Brokenshire subsequently worked as a partner at international law firm Jones Day. In this position, he advised companies, businesses, and financial institutions on company law, mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance transactions.

Member of Parliament for Hornchurch

He was first elected at the 2005 general election to the parliamentary constituency of Hornchurch, defeating the Labour candidate and incumbent member John Cryer by 480 votes. The election itself resulted in a third successive term for Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour government. From 2005-06, Brokenshire was a member of the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee. From 2006-10 he then served as the Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction.

Brokenshire was aware that his constituency, Hornchurch, was to be dissolved for the next election. In November 2006, he applied for selection as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Witham in Essex, but he was defeated by Priti Patel. He simultaneously campaigned to be selected as Conservative candidate for the constituency of Hornchurch and Upminster, but in March 2007 was defeated there by Angela Watkinson.

He next stood for Gillingham and Rainham in July 2007, Grantham and Stamford in October 2007, North East Cambridgeshire in January 2008, and Maidstone and The Weald later that same month. He was unsuccessful in all of these attempts.

Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup

Derek Conway, the member for the Conservative safe seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup in southeast London, was embroiled in an expenses scandal and forced to resign, after which Brokenshire put his name forward as a potential replacement. His competitors for the seat were Rebecca Harris, Katie Lindsay, and Julia Manning, and he was successful in gaining the selection for the seat in June 2008. This was the seventh seat he applied to be a candidate for ahead of the 2010 election. As a result, he was accused of being a "serial carpetbagger" by a local single issue party, Independents to Save Queen Mary's Hospital.

In the May 2010 general election, Brokenshire was elected for Old Bexley and Sidcup with 24,625 votes (53.93%), beating the Labour candidate Rick Everitt, in second place with 8,768 votes (19.21%). Voter turnout was 69.13%. Upon victory, Brokenshire announced that as per his pre-election pledges, his priority would be to prevent the proposed closure of accident and emergency services at local Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup. The hospital's A&E department was closed in November of the same year.

Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime Reduction

With no party gaining an overall majority in the House of Commons, the election resulted in the formation of a coalition government consisting of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The new government appointed Brokenshire as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime Reduction in the Home Office. One of his first moves was to initiate the closing of the United Kingdom's Forensic Science Service; it had been making operational losses of £2 million a month, and was predicted to go into administration in early 2011. Brokenshire stated his desire that there would be "no continuing state interest in a forensics provider by March 2012", with the service's role being taken on by private enterprise. Critics asserted that this move would result in the loss of hundreds of jobs and the degradation of forensic research and criminal justice, with an MPs enquiry chaired by Labour MP Andrew Miller criticising the manner in which the closure had been overseen.

In August 2010, Brokenshire called for the government to adopt a new approach to the war on drugs in Britain; he argued that they should focus on getting addicts off drugs, rather than minimising the effects of drug use, as the preceding Labour government had focused on.

Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime and Security

In May 2011, Brokenshire's Home Office brief was changed from Crime Reduction to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Crime and Security following the resignation of Baroness Neville-Jones, although he was not appointed to the more senior rank of Minister of State. In this position, he was responsible for updating plans to tackle terror content online. A move seen as controversial by broadband companies and freedom of speech groups.

In the buildup to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he stated his belief that the games would be a "great success", largely due to the government's security measures. He also commented that "I think it will bring Bexley together and the torch relay will be a fantastic event for the community ... I'm quite sure it will have a lasting impression."

In October 2013, Brokenshire published a draft of a proposed Modern Slavery Bill, designed to tackle slavery in the UK He was quoted as saying that the Bill will "send the strongest possible message to criminals that if you are involved in this disgusting trade in human beings, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up." Experts in the issue were sceptical of the Bill, believing that it had many shortcomings and was designed largely to enhance Theresa May's career. The bill was subsequently enacted as the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

In January 2014, Brokenshire called on National Rail to improve its services, after statistics were published revealing that rail services across Bexley Borough had worsened throughout 2013.

Minister of State for Security and Immigration

Brokenshire assumed the enlarged role of Minister for Security and Immigration on 8 February 2014 following the resignation of Mark Harper.

Northern Ireland Secretary

In July 2016, under Theresa May's new cabinet, he was appointed the Northern Ireland Secretary. On 16 January 2017, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed following the resignation of Martin McGuinness as deputy First Minister one week earlier, and the refusal of Sinn Féin to nominate a successor. Brokenshire, as Northern Ireland Secretary, temporarily assumed the powers of the Executive and called for snap elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which took place on 2 March 2017.

Brokenshire's comments in the Sunday Telegraph of 28 January 2017 sparked consternation and outrage in Northern Ireland:

"Writing in the Telegraph, James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland Secretary, concedes there is an apparent “imbalance” that has led to a “disproportionate” focus on criminal inquiries involving former soldiers. “I am clear the current system is not working and we are in danger of seeing the past rewritten,”

Recently retired SDLP MLA Alban Maginness retorted that:

"There is a clear intention on his part to be seen as a firmly pro-DUP Secretary of State. If he does not make some effort to be a neutral British Government representative, then he will find himself hopelessly entrapped in the mess himself.It is scarcely surprising that the collapse of Stormont happened on his watch and he cannot not regard himself as blameless in that regard. Stoking DUP paranoia and feeding the erroneous view that dealing with the past is "disproportionately focused on the police and the Army" is very foolish indeed." The actions of the Army and the RUC will necessarily be integral to the process of investigating the past. This is as unavoidable, as will be the investigation of the Provisional IRA and the loyalist paramilitary actions. Those in the Army who have allegedly committed crimes will be tried and, if found guilty, will be properly sentenced for those offences. That is called "due process" and no soldier or police officer can be immune from that, in the same way as no IRA man or UVF man can be immune from justice.

Following a question from MP Sylvia Hermon, Brokenshire offered his "clear and unequivocal" support for the Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan. Sir Declan had earlier criticised Brokenshire for refusing funding for cases and thereby adding to case backlogs when Brokenshire refused to grant £10 million to pay for an inquest into the deaths of eleven civilians shot dead by British forces in 1971 in the Ballymurphy massacre.

Brian Feeney in The Irish News accused Brokenshire of "ineptitude ... [though] no one would give him the credit of even being aware of the coincidence of the date he chose, when British soldiers killed most innocent victims in Ireland." (see Bloody Sunday (1972)), while the pro-unionist Belfast Telegraph editoral accused the minister of "playing a dangerous game":

"The Secretary of State ... has created further controversy around an already contentious subject. It is an unusual move and by doing so, he has opened himself up to allegations that he is taking sides. He has also put at risk the impartiality with which Secretaries of State are expected to deal with Northern Ireland affairs."

Personal life

Brokenshire married Cathrine Anne Mamelok in 1999. They have two daughters and a son.

He has expressed support for the charity Cancer Research UK and in March 2013 publicly backed their Cell Slider website, calling on all of his constituents to get involved in the initiative.