James Cartlidge has been the MP for South Suffolk since 2015. He attended Manchester University where he gained a first class degree in Economics, after which he set up his own business, Share to Buy, a successful property portal and host of the London Home Show, a major event for first-time buyers.

In Parliament, he served as PPS to Chancellor Rishi Sunak throughout the pandemic, he was then a Justice Minister and Treasury Minister before becoming Defence Procurement Minister in April 2023.

In the MoD, he was responsible for procurement, the defence estate, and the nuclear enterprise. He delivered the UK’s first ever Defence Drone Strategy in February 2024, alongside a fundamental overhaul of defence acquisition, namely the Integrated Procurement Model. The key procurements he initiated included DragonFire lasers for the Navy, and RCH artillery for the Army. Cartlidge has been Shadow Defence Secretary since the 2024 General Election.