Alex Chalk

An assistant whip and parliamentary under-secretary of state for justice, Alex Chalk has been the Conservative MP for Cheltenham since 2015, becoming the first Conservative to win there since 1987. He studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford before joining the bar and gaining fourteen years’ experience in court, specialising in counter-terrorism, homicide and fraud cases. Chalk also represented journalists during the Leveson inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal back in 2011-12. As a dedicated advocate for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, he has endorsed Extinction Rebellion for their radical activism and continues to seek statutory changes on climate change. Although in favour of legal aid reform in the criminal justice system, Chalk stunned observers in October 2020 by failing to turn up to a major evidence session for the Westminster commission on legal aid, at which he was scheduled to deliver the opening speech.