A look at Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden as he gets ready to ‘lead’ whilst Rishi Sunak is on holiday

‘A culture warrior’  and ‘a normal guy,’ are just some of the descriptions attributed to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who will be 'in charge' whilst Rishi Sunak is away for his summer holidays. He is also been labelled as ‘dependable mediocre.’ which seems to go hand in hand with possibly being a 'normal guy,’ but worlds apart from a 'culture warrior.’

In 2022, Oliver Dowden was criticised for his anti-woke rhetoric after he gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. The Telegraph reported that “Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative policy think tank which enjoyed a close relationship with Margaret Thatcher, he noted the UK and US are where the so-called "woke agenda" is being “pursued the most aggressively”. 

In 2021, Oliver Dowden wrote an article for The Telegraph when he was the then Culture Secretary and said: “The pressure on our heritage is part of a worrying trend – a cancel culture whereby a small but vocal group of people claim to have the monopoly on virtue and seek to bully those who dare to disagree. But the world is too complicated for that kind of totalitarian moral certainty – and we must resist it at all costs.”

In April 2023, Oliver Dowden, who is a long-time ally of Rishi Sunak, was named by him as the new Deputy Prime Minister. He is the MP for Hertsmere, which is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire. 

Oliver Dowden is married to Blythe, who is a teacher, and the couple share two children together. Oliver Dowden was educated at Parmiter’s School in Hertsmere before attending Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.

Four days ago, Oliver Dowden shared a photograph of himself visiting the Schopwick Surgery in Elstree (see above). The caption for the photograph read "It was great to visit Schopwick Surgery in Elstree following their recent overall 'Outstanding' rating by the Care Quality Commission. I saw first-hand their strong team ethos and how they strive to offer the best care and attention to residents."