Mel Stride

Sir Melvyn John Stride (born 30 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Kemi Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet from November 2024 to August 2026. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010.

He previously served in the May government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General from 2017 to 2019 and as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from May to July 2019. From 2019 to 2022 he sat as a backbencher, serving as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. From October 2022 to July 2024, during the government of Rishi Sunak, Stride served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election, Stride was appointed Sunak's Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. On Sunak's departure he launched his bid to become Leader of the Conservative Party, but was eliminated on the second ballot of MPs. Following Kemi Badenoch's victory in the 2024 leadership election she appointed Stride as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Early life and education Melvyn John Stride was born in Ealing, in London, on 30 September 1961. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, a private day school in the city of Portsmouth on England's South Coast, and then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, at the University of Oxford, where he was elected president of the Oxford Union.

Parliamentary career

Stride was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Central Devon in June 2006 after his name was added to the new Conservative A-List in 2006; he was the first A-Lister to be selected.

At the 2010 general election, Stride was elected as MP for Central Devon with 51.5% of the vote and a majority of 9,230.

On 28 October 2011, Stride was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes.

At the 2015 general election, Stride was re-elected as MP for Central Devon with an increased vote share of 52.2% and an increased majority of 21,265. Stride was promoted to the frontbench as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury after the election. Stride was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

Stride was appointed Comptroller of the Household following the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister. He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 55.3% and an increased majority of 17,721. At the 2024 general election, Stride was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 31.5% and a decreased majority of 61.

Ministerial career: 2017–2019 Following the 2017 general election, Stride was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In this role in April 2019, Stride was accused by MPs of breaking the Ministerial Code over comments he had made in relation to the Loan Charge. Stride was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council on 23 May 2019, following the resignation of Andrea Leadsom. Stride endorsed Michael Gove to become Leader of the Conservative Party in the 2019 leadership election. Following Boris Johnson's election as party leader and appointment as Prime Minister he was dismissed from his role as Leader of the House of Commons and replaced by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Backbencher: 2019–2022

On 23 October 2019, Stride was elected Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, replacing Nicky Morgan. Stride supported Rishi Sunak in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, serving as his campaign chief, and lent his support to him again in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: 2022–2024 Upon the appointment of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, Stride returned to the frontbench having been appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. In September 2023, Stride commented on the state pension system in the United Kingdom. Stride said that the triple lock system was not sustainable in the long term. The comments came in response to reports that the government was considering scrapping the mechanism used to uprate the state pension having seen several years of large increases.

Stride became well known for his frequent media appearances during the 2024 general election campaign, making more appearances on morning television programs than any other Conservative minister.

In opposition

The Conservative Party suffered a landslide defeat at the 2024 general election and Stride's constituency became one of the country's most marginal, with his majority falling to just 61 votes. Immediately afterwards, Stride called for the party to elect a new leader. Following the election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Stride was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet.

On 26 July 2024, Stride announced he would be standing in the 2024 leadership election to be the new Conservative Party leader. During the first MPs' ballot, Stride achieved the second lowest number of votes of the six candidates, at 16. Stride's outperformance of Priti Patel was an upset, leading him to declare his campaign had "Melmentum". He came last of the remaining five candidates in the second ballot, remaining at 16 votes, and was eliminated from the contest on 10 September. Kemi Badenoch ultimately won the party leadership, prevailing over Robert Jenrick in the final round on 2 November 2025. left Stride during Prime Minister's Questions in 2025On 4 November 2024, Stride was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in Badenoch's shadow cabinet.

In June 2025, Stride apologised for the September 2022 mini-budget implemented by Prime Minister Liz Truss, stating that the Conservatives would "never again" risk the UK's economic stability by making "promises we cannot afford".

During his time as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Stride deputised for the Leader of the Opposition during Deputy PMQs, facing Angela Rayner on 25 June 2025 whilst the Prime Minister was at the 2025 The Hague NATO summit.

At his autumn 2025 conference speech, Stride described Reform UK as a "populist alternative that is totally detached from reality" and blamed the incumbent Labour government for increasing borrowing, raising taxes, and increasing debt.

Shortly after Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Robert Jenrick was suspended by Badenoch for secretly plotting to defect to Reform in January 2026, Jenrick delivered a speech in which he criticised Stride. Jenrick accused Stride of overseeing "the explosion of the welfare bill and blocked the reforms needed” when he was Work and Pensions Secretary. Members of the shadow cabinet reportedly felt the attack on Stride was both too personal and hypocritical, given Jenrick's past praise of Stride.

Personal life In 2005, at Westminster, Stride married Michelle King Hughes (born 1975) and has three daughters. On 11 April 2025, Stride was knighted in Rishi Sunak's Resignation Honours List. The Times described Stride's political style as "full of enthusiasm" in 2025.

Honours