In the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, after more than 20 years serving as a Minister, it was announced that Clarke had stepped down from government, to return to the backbenches. Clarke was honoured as a Companion of Honour, upon the Prime Minister's recommendation, in July 2014. His total time as a government minister is the fifth-longest in the modern era after Winston Churchill, Arthur Balfour, Rab Butler, and the Duke of Devonshire.
In the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, after more than 20 years serving as a Minister, it was announced that Clarke had stepped down from government, to return to the backbenches. Clarke was honoured as a Companion of Honour, upon the Prime Minister's recommendation, in July 2014. His total time as a government minister is the fifth-longest in the modern era after Winston Churchill, Arthur Balfour Rab Butler, and the Duke of Devonshire.