Mark Francois

The Right Honourable
Mark Francois
MP
Minister of State for Communities and Resilience
In office
11 May 2015 – 16 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Position abolished
Minister of State for Portsmouth
In office
11 May 2015 – 16 July 2016
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Matthew Hancock
Succeeded by Office abolished
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
7 October 2013 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by Penny Mordaunt
Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans
In office
4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by Anna Soubry
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
11 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Helen Jones
Succeeded by Greg Knight
Shadow Minister for Europe
In office
29 May 2007 – 11 May 2010
Leader David Cameron
Preceded by Graham Brady
Succeeded by Chris Bryant
Member of Parliament
for Rayleigh and Wickford
Rayleigh (2001–2010)
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded by Michael Clark
Majority 23,450 (42.4%)
Personal details
Born (1965-08-14) 14 August 1965
Islington, London, England
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Residence Rayleigh
Alma mater University of Bristol
King's College London
Website www.markfrancois.com
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Anglian Regiment
Years of service 1985-1991
Rank Lieutenant

Mark Gino Francois MP (born 14 August 1965) is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford. He was appointed as a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence on 4 September 2012, and was Minister of State for the Armed Forces. Following the Conservatives' success at the 2015 general election he became Minister of State for Communities and Resilience and Minister for Portsmouth at the Department for Communities and Local Government.[1][2]

Early life

Mark Gino Francois was born in Islington, London. He was educated at the Nicholas Comprehensive School in Basildon, Essex and at the University of Bristol, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1986. He was also the chairman of the University's Conservative Association. He completed his studies at King's College London where he earned an MA in War Studies in 1987.

On leaving university he became a management trainee with Lloyds Bank. He joined lobbying company Market Access International in 1988, leaving as a director to set up his own lobbying firm, Francois Associates, in 1996.

Military career

During the Cold War, Francois served as an infantry officer in the Territorial Army, including with the local Royal Anglian Regiment.

Councillor and parliamentary candidate

He was a member of Basildon District Council for four years from 1991. He stood for Brent East at the 1997 general election, losing to Ken Livingstone (who later became the Mayor of London). Following the death of Alan Clark in 1999, he narrowly lost out to Michael Portillo in the selection for the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election. On the retirement of Michael Clark at the 2001 general election, he beat Boris Johnson to be selected to fight the safe Conservative seat of Rayleigh.

Member of Parliament

Francois won in Rayleigh in 2001 with a majority of 8,290, and was re-elected in 2005 and 2010 with increased majorities.[3][4] He made his maiden speech on 4 July 2001.[5]

He served as a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee for the duration of his first term in Parliament. He was promoted to become an Opposition Whip in 2003 by Michael Howard; to Shadow Economic Secretary in September 2004; and later to Shadow Paymaster General scrutinising HMRC. He was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Europe in May 2007 and joined the Shadow Cabinet at the January 2009 reshuffle. As Shadow Minister for Europe Francois oversaw the Conservative Party's withdrawal from the federalist EPP grouping in the European Parliament, the creation of the ECR grouping and the Conservative's opposition in the House of Commons to the Treaty of Lisbon, which he spoke against on many occasions including on 5 March 2008 in the debate to pass the European Union (Amendment) Act 2008.[6]

When the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats joined in a coalition government following the United Kingdom general election, 2010 he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a sinecure given to a Government Whip that entails being kept as 'captive' at Buckingham Palace when the Queen opens Parliament. He joined the Privy Council on 9 June 2010.[7] He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland.[8] In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011.[9]

He was appointed Minister for State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans in the Ministry of Defence in September 2012. From October 2013 to May 2015, he was Minister of State with responsibility for the armed forces, cyber activity, and force generation.[10]

Following the 2015 general election, he became Minister of State for Communities and Resilience and Minister for Portsmouth at the Department for Communities and Local Government.[11][12]

Francois left the government after Theresa May was appointed Prime Minister, but she appointed him to conduct a review into the use of reserves in the Army.[13]

Since September 2017, Francois has sat on the Defence Select Committee.

Personal life

He was briefly married to Karen Thomas, whom he married in June 2000 in Langdon Hills, Basildon.

References

  1. ↑ O'Leary, Miles (14 May 2015). "Essex MP Mark Francois appointed Minister for Portsmouth". Portsmouth News. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Rt Hon Mark Francois MP". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
  4. ↑ BBC News 2010
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Hansard 5 March 2008, col. 1863
  7. ↑ "Privy Council Orders". Privy Council. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  8. ↑ Conservative Friends of Poland website Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill". parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Minister of State for the Armed Forces". gov.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  11. ↑ O'Leary, Miles (14 May 2015). "Essex MP Mark Francois appointed Minister for Portsmouth". Portsmouth News. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Rt Hon Mark Francois MP". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "New ministerial and government appointments announced on July 17 2016". UK Prime Minister's Office. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Michael Clark		 Member of Parliament for Rayleigh
2001–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Graham Brady		 Shadow Minister for Europe
2007–2010		 Succeeded by
Chris Bryant
Preceded by
Helen Jones		 Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
2010–2012		 Succeeded by
Greg Knight
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.