Mark Francois

In 2018, he was appointed deputy chairman and de facto whip of the eurosceptic European Research Group by chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg. He was a critic of the leadership of Theresa May during her time as leader of the Conservative Party. On 3 March 2020, Francois was announced as chairman the ERG, succeeding Steve Baker.

At the 2019 general election, Francois was re-elected with an increased majority of 31,000 (7,550 votes more than in the 2017 election). In January 2020, he launched a crowdfunding bid with the StandUp4Brexit group to raise money for Big Ben to chime upon the UK's departure from the EU.

Since September 2017, Francois has sat on the Defence Select Committee and is a former member of the Administration Committee, the Committee of Selection, Defence Committee and Environmental Audit Committee. He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland.

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.

He was appointed Minister of 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.

Francois served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (2010–2012), a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence (2012–2013) and Minister of State for the Armed Forces (2013–2015). He also was Minister of State for Communities and Resilience and Minister for Portsmouth at the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2015 to 2016.

When the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats joined in a coalition government following the 2010 general election, 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. In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011.

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.

He was selected as the party's candidate for the Rayleigh constituency in the 2001 general election. Francois won the seat with a majority of 8,290. He made his maiden speech on 4 July 2001. Francois was re-elected in 2005 with an increased majority of 14,726. The constituency was abolished prior to the 2010 general election. He was elected in the new seat of Rayleigh & Wickford in the election.

Francois married Karen Thomas at Langdon Hills, Basildon, in June 2000. They divorced in 2006.

Francois stood for the Brent East constituency in the 1997 general election. He came second to the incumbent Labour Party MP Ken Livingstone. He contested the election to be the Conservative Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Kensington and Chelsea constituency in the 1999 by-election. The contest was won by Michael Portillo, who garnered 60% of the final ballot.

He was a member of Basildon District Council for the Langdon Hills ward from 1991 to 1995. On the council, he served as vice-chair of the housing committee from 1992 to 1995.

After university, Francois became a management trainee with Lloyds Bank. He then worked as a political consultant for the lobbying company Market Access International in 1988, leaving to set up his own lobbying firm, Francois Associates, in 1996, which he closed when he was elected as MP in 2001.

In 1983, he joined the Territorial Army. Francois was commissioned in December 1985 and served with the Royal Anglian Regiment until September 1989, reaching the rank of Lieutenant.

Mark Gino Francois (/f r ɑː n ˈ s w ɑː / ; born 14 August 1965) is a British politician serving as Chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) since March 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford since 2010. Francois was first elected as the MP for Rayleigh in 2001.

Mark Gino Francois was born on 14 August 1965 in Islington, London to Anna (née  Carloni) and Reginald Francois. His father was an engineer and his mother was an au pair. Francois' mother is Italian. The family moved to Basildon, Essex in 1971. His secondary education was at the Nicholas Comprehensive School (now part of James Hornsby School). He studied history at the University of Bristol and graduated in 1986. Francois stated that he joined the Conservative Party when he was studying in Bristol. He went on to complete a master's degree in War Studies at King's College London in 1987.