Mel Stride

Melvyn John Stride (born 30 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from October 2022 to July 2024. 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. He also served as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010.

Early life and career
Melvyn Stride was born in Ealing, London on 30 September 1961. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, and then read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he was elected President of the Oxford Union.

In 1987, Stride set up a business specialising in trade exhibitions, conferences and publishing (Venture Marketing Group) which he and his wife jointly controlled before selling it to a United States subsidiary.

Political career
Stride was selected as the prospective Conservative candidate for Central Devon in June 2006 after his name was added to the 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.

He was appointed Comptroller of the Household following the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister.

At the snap 2017 general election, Stride was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54.1% and a decreased majority of 15,680. 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.

In the 2024 general election he narrowly won re-election, beating the Labour candidate by just 61 votes.

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.

In opposition
Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 United Kingdom general election and the subsequent formation of the Starmer ministry, Stride was appointed Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary in Rishi Sunak's caretaker Shadow Cabinet.

Personal life
Stride is married to Michelle and has three daughters.