Angela Rayner faces the House of Commons today for PMQs – but it won’t be Kemi Badenoch on the opposition bench.
Alex Burghart will stand in the for the Tory leader to take on the Deputy Prime Minister.
On the table today will no doubt be Labour’s ‘tractor tax’ on farmers’ inheritance, winter fuel and more.
Mr Burghart forms part of Ms Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland, having first dipped his feet into the world of politics in 2008.
He has served under Theresa May and Boris Johnson‘s governments and even tried to oust Jeremy Corbyn from his Islington North constituency.
Take a look at everything we know about the Tory MP below.
The Tory MP for Brentwood and Ongarwas born in Dorset in 1977.
He studied history at Oxford and earned a PhD on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.
His background in history aligns with his new role as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
He entered politics in 2008 as an advisor to then Shadow Minister Tim Loughton.
Mr Burghart served as Director of Policy at the Centre for Social Justice and joined Theresa May’s policy team in 2016.
He ran unsuccessfully against Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North in 2015 and was later elected as MP for the safe Tory seat of Brentwood and Ongar in 2017.
The Tory MP has held Parliamentary Private Secretary roles for senior figures including Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He also served as Minister for Skills at the Department for Education before resigning over Mr Johnson’s handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
Mr Pincher resigned his seat after losing his appeal against a proposed Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men.
He was appointed into the tole after Labour’s July 2024 general election win and retained it under Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Mr Burghart has been criticized Labour for being « nervous » about openly supporting the union amidst Irish reunification discussions.
He previously faced criticism for not visiting Northern Ireland in his tole as shadow secretary, citing difficulty in securing travel funds.
His reasoning drew skepticism because of the affordability of flights from London to Belfast.
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