- Ten-second biography
Clark was director of policy for the Conservative Party before entering Parliament in 2005. A year later, Clark was made party spokesman on the third sector. When Gordon Brown created a new department for energy and climate change earlier this month, Cameron opted to put Clark up against new secretary of state Ed Miliband.
- What's his background?
The son of a milkman, Clark attended a comprehensive in Middlesbrough and studied economics at Cambridge. He went on to work for the Boston Consulting Group and then for the BBC as its controller, commercial policy.
- Where does he sit politically?
Clark is among a new generation of Conservatives positioning themselves as progressive and liberal. Aged 16, he flirted with the fledgling SDP movement, before joining Thatcher's Conservatives. At the recent Conservative Party conference, Clark argued that the politics of Winston Churchill were now less relevant to the party than those of Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee.
- Why he is one to watch
Clark is seen as one of the cleverest people sitting on the Tory frontbench and insiders expect him to go far.
- Tell me something I might not know
As a councillor, Clark introduced a new policy of opening swimming pools free of charge to teenagers after school.
