James Cleverly

James Cleverly TD AM
Leader of the London Assembly Conservative Group
In office 2011–2012
Preceded by	Roger Evans
Succeeded by	Andrew Boff
Member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 May 2008
Preceded by	Bob Neill
Majority	47,768
Personal details
Born	4 September 1969 Lewisham, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Susannah Janet Temple Cleverly (Née Sparks)
Alma mater	University of West London

James Spencer Cleverly (born 4 September 1969) is member of the London Assembly part of the Greater London Authority and is the Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. He was first elected for the Bexley and Bromley constituency in May 2008 as a candidate of the Conservative Party with a majority of 75,237, by far the largest margin in any of the 14 constituencies. He was re-elected in 2012 with a reduced majority of 47,768.^[1]

History

James Cleverly was born in Lewisham Hospital, to a British father and mother from Sierra Leone. He attended Riverston School and Colfe's School, both in Lee, South East London and after a short time in the Army gained a degree at Thames Valley University (now known as the University of West London).

Before being elected he worked in the magazine and web publishing industry and is the author of a blog. He is a Major in the Territorial Army and has been awarded the Territorial Decoration for long service.^[2]

Elections

Cleverly had previously stood unsuccessfully in a number of elections for the London Borough of Lewisham; including the borough council elections of 2002, a borough council by-election in 2003, for the Lewisham East seat for the UK Parliament in the 2005 general election and as the Conservative candidate for the directly elected mayor of Lewisham in 2006.

In March 2007, he was selected as the candidate for the Bexley and Bromley constituency of the London Assembly in a very tightly fought selection contest. The London Assembly election was held on 1 May with the count and declaration on the 2 May, where he received 105,162 votes (52.6% of the vote) and a majority of 75,237.

In November 2010, Cleverly was re-selected to be the Conservative candidate for Bexley and Bromley in the 2012 GLA elections, going on to win the seat with 88,482 votes (once again 52.6% of the votes) and a majority of 47,768.^[3]

In January 2015, Cleverly was selected to be the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Braintree in the upcoming general election on 7 May.^[4]

Political

In January 2009, Cleverly was appointed as the Mayor of London's Youth Ambassador, a newly created role which was seen as being a replacement post for the Deputy Mayor for Young People, a post left vacant after the resignation of Ray Lewis. The creation of the role caused some controversy as it was not filled by a mayoral appointment but by a member of the assembly whose formal role is to scrutinise the Mayor. The decision was defended because of the precedent set by the appointment of Kit Malthouse as Deputy Mayor for Policing.^[5]

In February 2010, Cleverly was appointed as the Chairman of the London Waste and Recycling Board replacing Boris Johnson who stood down from the role at that point.^[6] After the defeat of Brian Coleman at the 2012 London elections he was appointed to the Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA).^[7]

In August 2010, Cleverly posted a tweet in which he called Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes "a dick".^[8] He later apologised.^[9]

References

External links

• Biography from the London Assembly
• James Cleverly's blog