Tom Tugendhat

The Right Honourable Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Minister for Security
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 July 2024
Leader	Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Dan Jarvis
Minister of State for Security
In office 6 September 2022 – 5 July 2024
Prime Minister	Liz Truss Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Stephen McPartland
Succeeded by	Dan Jarvis
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee
In office 12 July 2017 – 7 September 2022
Preceded by	Crispin Blunt
Succeeded by	Alicia Kearns
Member of Parliament for Tonbridge Tonbridge and Malling (2015–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2015
Preceded by	John Stanley
Majority	11,166 (22.2%)
Personal details
Born	Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (1973-06-27) 27 June 1973 (age 51) London, England
Citizenship	United Kingdom France
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Anissia Morel[1]
Children	2
Parent	Sir Michael Tugendhat (father)
Relatives	The Lord Tugendhat (uncle)
Education	St Paul's School, London
Alma mater	University of Bristol (BA) Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (MPhil)
Signature
Website	tomtugendhat.org.uk
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	2003–2013
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Unit	Adjutant General's Corps Intelligence Corps
Battles/wars	Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	MBE (2010) VR (2013)
Tom Tugendhat's voice Tugendhat comments on the War in Afghanistan Recorded 5 November 2021

Thomas Georg John Tugendhat MBE VR (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge, previously Tonbridge and Malling, since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Shadow Minister for Security since 2024. He previously served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Security from September 2022 to July 2024.

Born in Westminster, Tugendhat attended St Paul's School. He studied at the University of Bristol and went on to study at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He then briefly worked as a journalist for The Daily Star, before becoming an officer in the British Army reserves in 2003, the Territorial Army; serving in both the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. He later served as one of the military assistants to the Chief of the Defence staff. Tugendhat was elected to Parliament for the Conservative party as the MP for Tonbridge and Malling in the 2015 general election. He was reelected in both the 2017 general election and the 2019 general election, and was also the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee between 2017 and 2022.

Following the resignation of Boris Johnson in July 2022, Tugendhat stood in the Conservative Party leadership election to succeed him. He was eliminated in the third round of parliamentary voting, and subsequently endorsed Liz Truss, serving in her government as Minister of State for Security. Following Truss's resignation the next month, Tugendhat endorsed Rishi Sunak in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election and retained his ministerial position in Sunak's cabinet. After the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election, Tugendhat became the Shadow Minister for Security in Sunak's shadow cabinet, and later launched his bid to become Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election.