Vicky Ford

Vicky Ford
MP
Vicky Ford, 2017
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary
Assumed office
1 September 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Conor Burns
Majority 13,572 (23.9%)
Member of the European Parliament
for East of England
In office
4 June 2009 – 12 June 2017
Preceded by Christopher Beazley
Succeeded by John Flack
Personal details
Born (1967-09-21) 21 September 1967
Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge
Website www.vickyford.uk

Victoria Grace Ford (born 21 September 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the East of England (2009–17), who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford in the June 2017 general election.

Early life and career

Vicky Pollock[1] was born and raised in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Her parents were both English doctors.[2] As a child, she joined her mother campaigning with the peace movement and her father stood in local elections for the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

She attended primary school and Omagh Academy[3] in Northern Ireland, but following her father's death, she went to schools in England. Ford was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and then was awarded an academic scholarship to Marlborough College and studied Maths and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Before entering politics, Ford had a 14-year career in banking,[4] mostly at JP Morgan, specialising in infrastructure and project financing.

Ford joined the Conservative Party in 1986. In 2006, Ford was elected as a local councillor, representing Balsham Ward at South Cambridgeshire District Council. She was a parliamentary candidate in the 2005 general election for Birmingham Northfield constituency, but came second.[5]

In 2007, she was a major contributor to the Conservative Party's review of UK taxation "The Tax Reform Commission".

Political offices

Member of the European Parliament

Ford was elected as Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament for East of England in the 2009 European Parliament election.[6] She was a member of the Bureau of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with China.

As an MEP, Ford was the rapporteur for the Parliament on reforms to firearms laws, offshore oil and gas safety and the fiscal framework directive which seeks to increase transparency and accountability of public spending. She was a lead negotiator on the Horizon 2020 fund for research and on bank capital requirements, deposit guarantee schemes and residential mortgages. She campaigned to reduce bureaucracy for business, to reduce the EU budget and to end the Strasbourg two-seat circus.

From 2009–2014 she was a member of the European Parliament Industry, Research and Energy Committee and the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee.

From 2014–2017 she was Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee,[7] one of the most powerful economic committees of the Parliament, focusing on digital policy and unlocking trade opportunities for services and goods.

In 2016, Ford was ranked as one of the top ten most influential members of the European Parliament by Politico Europe, particularly for her work on digital policy.[8]

Member of Parliament

Ford was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Chelmsford at the 2017 general election.[9] On 21 June 2017, Ford made her maiden speech in the Queen's speech debate, the first of the 2017 intake to do so.[10]

Personal life

She met her future husband, Hugo Ford, at Trinity College, Cambridge while they were both students; he is now a Consultant Oncologist (cancer specialist) at Addenbrooke's Hospital; the couple have three children.[11][12] Her hobbies include fly fishing and gardening. She plays the piano and clarinet as well as singing in a local choir.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Old Marlburian MEP; 5 October 2011". Marlburian Club. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 "About Vicky". VickyFord.org. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Hill, Henry. "May's Men and Women: The Conservative Commons intake of 2017". Conservative Home. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Townsend, Piers (28 March 2001). "Bear Stearns Hires JP Morgan Loan Specialist". Financial News. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Vicky Ford". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "European Election 2009, UK Results, East of England". BBC News. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Internal Market and Consumer Protection – Members". europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Heath, Ryan. "The 40 MEPs who actually matter". Politico. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Election 2017: Chelmsford parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017. ,
  10. ↑ "Debate on the Address". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. 21 June 2017. col. 137–139. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Vicky Ford MEP". secca.org.uk. South East Cambridgeshire Conservatives. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Vicky Ford MEP – My East Anglia". East Life. 14 November 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
European Parliament
Preceded by
Christopher Beazley		 Member of the European Parliament
for East of England
2009–2017		 Succeeded by
John Flack
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Simon Burns		 Member of Parliament for Chelmsford
2017–present		 Incumbent
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