Alex Chalk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alex Chalk
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Official portrait, 2019
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| In office 21 April 2023 – 5 July 2024 |
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| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Dominic Raab |
| Succeeded by | Shabana Mahmood |
| Minister of State for Defence Procurement | |
| In office 26 October 2022 – 21 April 2023 |
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| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Alec Shelbrooke |
| Succeeded by | James Cartlidge |
| Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
| In office 16 September 2021 – 5 July 2022 |
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| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Michael Ellis |
| Succeeded by | Edward Timpson |
| Minister of State for Prisons and Probation | |
| In office 2 March 2021 – 10 September 2021 |
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| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Lucy Frazer |
| Succeeded by | Lucy Frazer |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice | |
| In office 14 February 2020 – 16 September 2021 |
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| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Wendy Morton |
| Succeeded by | James Cartlidge |
| Member of Parliament for Cheltenham |
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| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Martin Horwood |
| Succeeded by | Max Wilkinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Alexander John Gervase Chalk
8 August 1976 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Children | 3 |
| Residences | Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, England |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford City University London |
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (born 8 August 1976) is a British politician and a barrister, which is a type of lawyer who represents people in court. He was the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from April 2023 to July 2024. These are very important jobs in the UK government, dealing with laws and the justice system.
Alex Chalk is a member of the Conservative Party. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheltenham from 2015 to 2024. An MP is someone elected to represent their local area in the UK Parliament. Before his top roles, he worked in other positions within the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence. He also served as the Solicitor General for England and Wales, another important legal role. He lost his seat in the 2024 general election.
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Early Life and Education
Alex Chalk was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, on 8 August 1976. His mother and grandmother were both magistrates, who are officials who hear cases in a lower court.
School and University
He went to private schools, first Windlesham House School and then Winchester College. At Winchester College, he was the "head boy," a top student leadership role. Rishi Sunak, who later became Prime Minister, also held this role a few years after him. After school, Alex Chalk studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford, a famous university.
Becoming a Barrister
After university, he studied law at City University London and became a barrister. This means he was officially allowed to argue cases in court. He joined Middle Temple, one of the professional groups for barristers, in 2001.
Legal Work Before Politics
As a barrister, Alex Chalk worked on many different legal cases. He handled cases involving public order and safety. He also worked on cases dealing with large-scale financial scams. He represented journalists during the phone-hacking scandal, which was a big news story about illegal phone tapping. He also helped a human rights lawyer from Iran, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was in prison.
Political Career
Alex Chalk started his political journey in local government.
Local Politics
In May 2006, he was first elected as a Conservative councillor for Shepherds Bush Green in Hammersmith and Fulham Council. A councillor is someone who helps make decisions for a local area. He later became a councillor for Addison ward in 2010. He was the chairman of the Planning Committee for four years, which means he led decisions about building and development in the area.
Becoming an MP for Cheltenham
At the 2015 general election, Alex Chalk was elected as the MP for Cheltenham. He won with 46.1% of the votes.
There were some questions about how much money was spent on his election campaign, but after a long investigation, no further action was taken against him or other Conservative candidates.
Roles in Parliament
From 2015 to 2019, Alex Chalk was part of the Justice Select Committee. This committee checks how the government's justice system is working. He also led or co-led several All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), which are groups of MPs from different parties who focus on specific topics like cycling or public legal education.
He worked with other MPs to increase the maximum sentence for stalking from five to ten years. This change became part of the Policing and Crime Act 2017.
In December 2015, he voted for the UK to carry out airstrikes against a group called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. In April 2016, he voted against a plan to accept 3,000 unaccompanied Syrian child refugees. He later explained that this was a very difficult decision.
Views on Brexit
Alex Chalk supported the UK staying in the European Union during the 2016 Brexit referendum. However, after the public voted to leave, he voted to trigger Article 50, which officially started the process of Britain leaving the EU. He believed it was important to respect the result of the referendum.
Re-election and Further Roles
He was re-elected as MP for Cheltenham in the 2017 general election and again in the 2019 general election.
In May 2018, he led a parliamentary inquiry into how social media and cyberbullying affect young people's mental health. This was because he was worried about a rise in mental health problems among young people in his area.
He also served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in different government departments, including Education, Health and Social Care, and Defence. A PPS helps a government minister with their work.
In the 2024 General Election, Alex Chalk lost his seat in Cheltenham to Liberal Democrat Max Wilkinson.
Ministerial Career
Alex Chalk held several important ministerial roles in the government.
Justice Minister
In February 2020, he became a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice. In this role, he helped pass a law in June 2020 that made it easier for couples to divorce without having to blame each other.
In March 2021, he announced new laws to protect young people from harm by people in positions of trust, like sports coaches.
Prisons and Probation Minister
In March 2021, Alex Chalk was temporarily appointed as the Prisons and Probation Minister. He later told prison officials that they should continue to use the word "prisoner" instead of "residents" or "clients" to make sure the public understood the role of prisons.
He also announced that new prisons would be designed to be very energy efficient, using things like solar panels to reduce carbon emissions. He also helped secure funding for charities that help people leaving prison to find jobs and housing, aiming to reduce crime. In June 2021, he announced that more probation officers were being hired and that community service for offenders would be improved.
Solicitor General for England and Wales
On 16 September 2021, Alex Chalk became Her Majesty's Solicitor-General for England and Wales. After this, he was given the title Queen's Counsel (KC), which is a special recognition for experienced lawyers.
As Solicitor General, he worked to make sure that people who committed serious crimes received fair sentences. He often asked the Court of Appeal to review sentences that seemed too light. For example, he helped increase the prison sentence for a man who had many extreme and far-right documents. He also helped increase the sentence for a man involved in kidnapping and controlling behavior.
He resigned from this role on 5 July 2022.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence
From October 2022 to April 2023, Alex Chalk served as a Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
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On 21 April 2023, Alex Chalk was appointed as the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. These are two of the most senior legal roles in the UK government. He was officially appointed by King Charles III.
In August 2023, he ordered an inquiry into the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson. This was to find out how and why it took so long for an innocent person to be freed from prison.
After Parliament
After losing his MP seat in the 2024 General Election, Alex Chalk joined a large international law firm called Jones Day as a Partner.
Personal Life
Alex Chalk is married and has three children. He lives in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham.
