Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Security since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, Tugendhat has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge and Malling since 2015. Additionally, he was the chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee from 2017 to 2022.
Before entering politics, he worked as a journalist and as a public relations consultant in the Middle East. He also had a part-time role as an officer in the British Army reserves, the Territorial Army; he served in the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.
In July 2022, Tugendhat stood in the Conservative Party leadership election, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation, and was eliminated in the third round of parliamentary voting. He subsequently supported Liz Truss's bid to become Conservative leader. Following Truss's appointment as Prime Minister, she appointed Tugendhat as Minister of State for Security, a role in which he continues to serve under the subsequent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Early life and education
Tugendhat was born in Westminster, London, the son of Sir Michael Tugendhat, a High Court judge and his French-born wife Blandine de Loisne. He is a nephew of Lord Tugendhat, a businessman, former Vice President of the European Commission and Conservative Party politician.
He was educated at St Paul's School, London, an all-boys private school. He studied theology at the University of Bristol, before doing a Master's degree course in Islamic studies at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and learning Arabic in Yemen. Following university, he briefly served as a journalist at the Lebanese newspaper, The Daily Star.
Military career
On 6 July 2003, Tugendhat was commissioned into the Educational and Training Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps, Territorial Army, British Army, as a second lieutenant (on probation). His Territorial Army commission was confirmed on 16 July 2003. He transferred to the Intelligence Corps on 29 July 2003.
Tugendhat was promoted to lieutenant on 16 July 2005, captain on 1 April 2007, and to major on 1 January 2010. He was a Territorial Army lieutenant colonel by July 2013.
Tugendhat served during the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He also served in Afghanistan, in a civilian capacity, for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), and helped set up the National Security Council of Afghanistan and the government in Helmand Province. He later served as one of the military assistants to the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Early Parliamentary career
Tugendhat was elected as the Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling, a safe Conservative seat in Kent, at the 2015 general election. He was selected in an open primary in 2013.
In October 2015, Tugendhat accused Iran of arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan: "Through the Quds Force, the special forces unit of the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, it has killed British troops and plotted to assassinate diplomats in Washington DC. The ayatollahs have nurtured terrorists around the world."
Tugendhat voted against Brexit, supporting continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum. He voted in favour of the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May's government on each of the three occasions it was put to a vote.
On 12 July 2017, Tugendhat was elected chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, becoming the youngest person to hold the post. After the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury by a nerve agent, Tugendhat said the attack was "if not an act of war (...) certainly a warlike act by the Russian Federation".
In February 2018, Tugendhat praised Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: "He is rightly showing a vision for Saudi Arabia that sees her taking her place as a player in the global economy and I think that is incredibly positive, not just for Saudi Arabia, but for the world."
Under Tugendhat's chairmanship the Foreign Affairs Committee has focused on British foreign policy priorities after Brexit. Other significant enquiries have covered: the implications of China's growing role in the international system, the UK's relationship with India, and the Responsibility to Protect.