James Duddridge

Sir James Philip Duddridgeis a British politician and former banker. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochford and Southend East since 2005. Duddridge previously held several ministerial positions under prime ministers David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Duddridge first served under David Cameron as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from May 2010 to September 2012 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2014 to 2016. Following Theresa May’s appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016, he returned to the backbenches.

He was appointed by May’s successor, Boris Johnson, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in July 2019, and served in the position until 31 January 2020 when the United Kingdom left the European Union and the office was abolished. Duddridge returned to his former role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa in February 2020 and served in this position until a government reshuffle in September 2021, when he left the government. He later served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Johnson from February to July 2022 and as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from July 2022 to September 2022.

Duddridge most recently served as Minister of State for International Trade in the Truss government. He left government for a third time in October 2022, when newly appointed prime minister Rishi Sunak dismissed him.