Thomas Georg John Tugendhat (born 27 June 1973) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since 2026. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge, formerly Tonbridge and Malling, since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served in the Cabinet as Security Minister from 2022 to 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 in Beirut as a journalist for The Daily Star, before becoming an officer in the British Army reserves, the Territorial Army, in 2003; he served 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 Security Minister. 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 Shadow Security Minister in Sunak's shadow cabinet; and after Sunak announced his intention to resign as Leader of the Conservative Party, Tugendhat launched another bid to become party leader. Again, he was eliminated in the third round of voting among Conservative MPs. He returned to the backbenches upon the election of Kemi Badenoch as leader. He was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary in August 2026, replacing Priti Patel.
Early life and education Thomas Georg John Tugendhat was born on 27 June 1973 in Westminster, 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 Tory appointed Life Peer, 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, before studying theology at the University of Bristol. Tugendhat then did a Master's degree course in Islamic studies at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and learned Arabic in Yemen. Following university, he briefly worked 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. By July 2013, he was awarded the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal for long service in the Territorial Army. His name is misspelled "Hugendhat" here, but his identity is confirmed by cross-referencing his service number with the other issues of the Gazette that mention him.
Tugendhat served during the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he served a tour of duty in the country as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer. He served in Afghanistan as a civilian, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and helped set up the National Security Council of Afghanistan and the government in Helmand Province; for this, he received the Civilian Service Medal. From 2007 to 2009, he was on active service with the Army, including serving in Afghanistan, again alongside the Royal Marines. He later served as a military assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff.
On 1 April 2022, he transferred from the Army Reserve to the Royal Naval Reserve, and was granted the rank of lieutenant commander.
Parliamentary career (2015–present)
Backbenches (2015–2022) In 2013, in an open primary, Tugendhat was selected as the Conservative candidate for Tonbridge and Malling, a safe Conservative seat in Kent. He was duly elected as its Member of Parliament at the 2015 general election, winning 59.4 per cent of the votes and a majority of 23,734.
In October 2015, Tugendhat accused Iran of arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said: "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 Brexit 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. At the snap 2017 United Kingdom general election, Tugendhat was re-elected, increasing his share of the vote to 63.6 per cent, but seeing his majority decrease to 23,508. On 12 July 2017, Tugendhat was elected to chair 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 stated: "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 focused on British foreign policy priorities after Brexit. Other significant enquiries have covered: the implications of China's growing role in the international system, India–United Kingdom relations, and the Responsibility to Protect.
On 21 May 2018, the Foreign Affairs Committee published a report on Russian corruption and the UK. This drew attention to the ability of President Vladimir Putin and his allies to launder assets through London, and called on the UK Government to "show stronger political leadership in ending the flow of dirty money into the UK". The report criticised the law firm Linklaters for its unwillingness to give evidence to the committee about the nature of working in the Russian Federation at that time.
At the 2019 general election, Tugendhat was again re-elected, seeing his share of the vote fall slightly to 62.8 per cent, but with an increased majority of 26,941. Tugendhat has "never made a secret of his ambitions to be Prime Minister one day." In January 2022, he stated he would consider standing for Prime Minister if Boris Johnson stepped down. The following month, he suggested expelling all Russian citizens from the UK in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, subsequently clarifying that he meant "all Russian citizens connected to the Putin regime. It's not a blanket expulsion". In July 2022, Tugendhat stood in the first Conservative Party leadership election of that year, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation, and was eliminated in the third round of parliamentary voting with 31 votes. His campaign raised £120,000.
Security Minister (2022–2024)
On 6 September 2022, Tugendhat was appointed Minister of State for Security in the Home Office as part of Liz Truss's cabinet; he had supported Truss's candidacy over her rival Rishi Sunak. He was retained in this role by the Sunak government. In this role he continued taking a hawkish position on the People's Republic of China and, equally, the PRC has maintained travel bans against him. Tugendhat commissioned the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate ways that TikTok may compromise Britain's national security.
In June 2023, Tugendhat decided to join official talks with a government minister of Taiwan, breaking convention on the topic of mutual security interests. In the same month, his office announced that China had shut down its Chinese police overseas service stations in the UK, though their existence had been consistently denied by the Chinese embassy. With security within his portfolio, Tugendhat was left to decide on permitting protests during the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, which he allowed.
In opposition (2024–present) Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 United Kingdom general election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Tugendhat was appointed Shadow Minister for Security in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet.
On 24 July 2024, he announced he was running in the leadership election to be the new Conservative Party leader. The following day Tugendhat's team were forced to change his campaign slogan after journalists and social media users discovered that the first letter of each line spelled out "TURD". In the first round, Tugendhat came fourth with 17 votes, but jumped up to joint third place with James Cleverly at 21 votes in the second round. However, in the third round, he fell back to fourth place with 20 votes and was eliminated.
Following Badenoch's election to lead the Conservative Party, Tugendhat was not named in her Shadow Cabinet and therefore returned to the backbenches. "Ex-Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat turned down a job in Kemi Badenoch's top team, a Tory source has told Sky News"
In the 2026 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Tugendhat was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary under Badenoch, replacing Priti Patel.
Political positions
European Court of Human Rights During the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, Tugendhat said he did not support the UK leaving the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In October 2023, he warned that withdrawal would have negative consequences for the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsor Framework and devolved administrations in the UK.
During the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election, Tugendhat said he would leave the ECHR if it was seen as not "serv[ing] the interests of the British people".
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said “Do I want to leave [the ECHR]? No. I want to reform it. I can't promise success and that is why I'm saying I am prepared to leave."
European Union Tugendhat supported remaining in the EU at the referendum of June 2016; however, he has since described Brexit as a revolution which cannot be overturned, commenting in July 2022: "There is no way back into the European Union."
Conservatism On 7 November 2018, Tugendhat gave a speech on "community conservatism" at an event organised by the Social Market Foundation. He described how his military experience had drawn him into politics and outlined several ways in which the government could encourage businesses to better serve the communities in which they operate.
Immigration In September 2024 during the leadership election, Tugendhat pledged to implement a 100,000 annual net migration cap citing pressure on housing, infrastructure and public services.
Defence spending In the July 2022 Conservative leadership election, Tugendhat pledged to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP.
In March 2024, Tugendhat called on his party leader and prime minister Rishi Sunak to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.
In September 2024 during the Conservative leadership election, Tugendhat pledged to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP.
Education