Damian Green

Damian Howard Greenis a British politician who served as First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office from June to December 2017 in the Second May government. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashford since 1997.

Green was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and studied philosophy, politics and economics at Balliol College, Oxford. He is married to the barrister Alicia Collinson who was a contemporary of Theresa May at St Hugh's College, Oxford.

After working as a journalist for the BBC, Channel 4 and The Times, he entered Parliament at the 1997 election by winning the seat of Ashford in Kent.

Green served in several shadow ministerial positions, including Shadow Transport Secretary and Shadow Education and Skills Secretary. He came to national prominence in November 2008 after being arrested and having his parliamentary office raided by police, although no case was brought. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition until July 2014, first as Minister of State for Immigration and then as Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice.

Green was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Prime Minister Theresa May in July 2016. Following the June 2017 general election, he was promoted to First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office. After the results of an inquiry into allegations that he sexually harassed a woman and viewed pornography on a work computer were published, it was found that he had breached the ministerial code and he was instructed to resign from the Cabinet amidst the 2017 Westminster sexual misconduct allegations. He became Chair of the One Nation Conservatives caucus following the formation of Boris Johnson's government in July 2019. In January 2023, he became Acting Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee after Julian Knight temporarily stood aside, and again in April 2023 after Knight resigned.