Theo Clarke

Theodora Roosevelt Clarke[2] (born 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford since the 2019 general election.

Theo Clarke

MP
Member of Parliament
for Stafford
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byJeremy Lefroy
Majority14,377 (28.1%)
Personal details
Born
Theodora Roosevelt Clarke

1985[1]
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Relations
EducationDowne House School
Alma materNewcastle University
Courtauld Institute of Art

Early life and career

Clarke grew up in the village of Bibury in Gloucestershire.[3][4] She is the daughter of Sir Charles Mansfield Tobias Clarke, 6th Baronet and his second wife Teresa de Chair, a daughter of Somerset de Chair. Her younger brother is athlete Lawrence Clarke.[4][5] Clarke also has a younger sister, Augusta.[4] She is the niece, by marriage, of the Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg.[6] Clarke is a distant relative of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a closer relative of another US President, Theodore Roosevelt (a first cousin of her great-grandfather's).[5][7]

She was privately educated at Downe House School in Newbury, Berkshire.[8] She studied art history at Newcastle University[7] and the Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in Russian art. Clarke worked for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the British auction house Christie's before founding Russian Art and Culture, an online arts magazine in 2011.[9][10] She was also a co-founder of the Association of Women in the Arts,[11] and later founded the Coalition for Global Prosperity.[12][13] As part of her work at the campaign group she volunteered in West Africa in the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak.[14]

Parliamentary career

Clarke decided to enter politics after witnessing the parliamentary expenses scandal.[14] She contested the Bristol East seat in the 2015 and 2017 general elections as the Conservative Party candidate.[15] The party selected her as the candidate for Stafford on 26 September 2019.[16] The incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy had previously announced that he would be standing down at the next election.[17] She was elected as MP in the 2019 general election with a majority of 14,377 (28.1%),[18] the largest in the constituency's history.[14]

Clarke has been a member of the International Development Committee since March 2020.[19] She chooses to identify as a one-nation conservative.[14]

References
  1. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. volume 1, page 808.
  2. "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. "Theo Clarke". Stafford Conservatives. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. "Lawrence Clarke's Christening". Tatler. 14 December 1990. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. "Team GB captain Lawrence Clarke's near-death experience inspires him on the track". The Daily Telegraph. 5 March 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  6. Perraudin, Frances (14 November 2019). "Unexpected candidates: from Count Binface to Rees-Mogg's niece". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. Daly, Patrick (25 May 2017). "Tory candidate Theo Clarke claims to live 'near Stockwood' - she actually lives on 'Uncle' Jacob Rees Moggs' estate in North East Somerset". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  8. "Our Year". Downe House School Magazine. p. 153. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  9. "Theodora Clarke". Russian Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. "About us". Russian Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. "Founding Members". Association of Women in the Arts. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. Clarke, Theo (11 July 2018). "Theo Clarke: Our army and our aid workers are both essential to the UK's security". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  13. "Our Team". Coalition for Global Prosperity. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. Madeley, Peter (6 March 2020). "New Stafford MP Theo Clarke: Time for actions, not words". Express & Star. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  15. "Bristol East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. "Tories select election candidate to replace Jeremy Lefroy in Stafford". Express & Star. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  17. "Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy to step down at next general election". BBC News. 14 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  18. "Stafford". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  19. "International Development Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Jeremy Lefroy		 Member of Parliament for Stafford
2019–present		 Incumbent


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