Former Teesside MP Sir Simon Clarke has a new job after his defeat at July’s General Election.
The former MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland will replace Gateshead-born Sebastian Payne as director of centre-right think-tank Onward after Mr Payne left that role to become a columnist and leader writer at The Times.
Sir Simon, who was knighted in 2022 as part of Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, held a number of senior political roles during seven years in Parliament, including briefly being Levelling Up Secretary and also serving as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He first won his seat on Teesside in 2017 and increased his majority in 2019, but he was defeated by just over 200 votes in last July’s General Election by Labour ’s Luke Myer.
Announcing his new job on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “Really excited to announce that I start today as the new director of UK Onward, succeeding the brilliant Sebastian Payne. This is a critical time for the future of Conservatism and I can’t wait to start work with a great team.”
He added: “We have a big task ahead of us, but we will work tirelessly to provide the right policies to help the Conservatives win and serve with purpose again. I am very grateful to the trustees for this opportunity, and to Seb for such a strong inheritance.”
Sir Simon had been a close ally of short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss, becoming one of her main cheerleaders after she left office after just 45 days. He publicly criticised her successor Rishi Sunak and predicted he would lead the Conservatives to defeat at July’s Election.
He has remained active in commenting on politics on social media, frequently criticising the new Labour Government but also criticising his own party for not building enough new houses around the UK. His new role at Onward will see him lead a think-tank associated with a number of the Conservative Party ’s leading figures of recent times, including Michael Gove, Neil O’Brien and Tom Tugendhat.