James Heappey

James Heappey was Minister of State for the Armed Forces, giving him oversight of conventional and cyber operations and deployment. In almost a decade in Parliament he held a number of roles, before which he served for eight years in the British Army, rising to the rank of Major. Crossing the political and military spheres, he has a rare insight into the interplay of policy, international relations, and the role of diplomacy and conflict in modern geopolitics.

After university and Sandhurst, James joined the Army as an officer, serving around the world including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He returned to the UK seconded to the Ministry of Defence and working as an executive officer on the General Staff. After leaving the Army he entered the world of politics as MP for Wells. Following a spell as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister he returned to his military roots with posts as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defence Procurement and as Armed Forces Minister. In addition, he served on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee, chaired the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group, and as the ‘MP for Glastonbury’, served on the select committee for the live events industry.

James’s ministerial roles saw him take a lead in defence diplomacy, visiting over 80 countries, with a particular focus on the ‘Global South’. He explores the forces that shape domestic and foreign policy, and the nature and context of both existing conflicts and nascent confrontations. Beyond current areas of tension, he also considers a wider perspective, looking at how to concentrate less on specific trouble spots and more on what businesses and organisations can do to factor in the inevitability of disruption, even if you don’t know from where it might come. He also provides a revealing insight into supplying defence technologies to Ukraine. How processes and systems that are usually measured in years (or even decades) were reviewed and changed into more agile, iterative processes that responded in a matter of weeks. The pressure to adapt at speed holds lessons for many established, hierarchical organisations seeking to respond to a constantly changing environment and priorities.