James Cartlidge lives in the constituency with his family. James was a Babergh district councillor until May 2015, representing the parishes of Bures St Mary, Little Cornard and Newton Green. His professional background is as an entrepreneur, having founded Share to Buy, a shared ownership property portal, mortgage broker and host of the ‘London Home Show’, the capital’s biggest event for first time buyers.
In addition to running Share to Buy, James was previously a volunteer ‘dragon’ to the homelessness charity St Mungos’ Broadway, acting as a small business advisor, sitting on a panel to decide which clients of the charity would receive grants to start a small venture. James previously stood for Parliament in Lewisham Deptford (2005 general election). In his spare time, James is a drummer for a local pub band. He enjoys cycling around South Suffolk and spending time with his family in the beautiful countryside and villages of the constituency.
James was first elected to Parliament in 2015. Prior to the 2017 election, James was Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Planning. He was also a member of the Public Accounts Commission and sat on the Work and Pensions Select Committee. After the 2017 General Election, James was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Health Ministers. At the beginning of 2018, James was promoted to PPS to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Jeremy Hunt, and remained his PPS when Hunt was promoted to Foreign Secretary. Following Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister in July 2019, James was appointed as PPS to the Secretary of State for Defence. In February 2020, James was appointed as PPS to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Ministerial Appointments:
Following the 2024 General Election, James was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. He was previously Minister for Defence Procurement from April 2023 to May 2024, and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from October 2022 to April 2023.
He also served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice between September 2021 and July 2022.