Vicky Ford

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, whereby the European Parliament alternates between sitting in Brussels and Strasbourg every month, entailing high travel costs between the two for MEPs and civil servants, whilst the Secretariat is based in Luxembourg City.

In the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle, Ford was appointed as the Minister for Children; a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Education, with responsibility for children and families.

In August 2018 Ford was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministerial team. In August 2019, she became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Alok Sharma, the Secretary or State for International Development.

Ford was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Chelmsford at the 2017 general election. On 21 June 2017, Ford made her maiden speech in the Queen's speech debate, the first of the 2017 intake to do so. In the 2017–19 parliament she served on the Science and Technology and the Women and Equalities select committees.

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.

From 2014–2017 she was Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, an economic committees of the Parliament, focusing on digital policy and unlocking trade opportunities for services and goods.

Ford was elected as Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament for East of England in the 2009 European Parliament election. 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.

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

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

Vicky married Hugo Ford in 1996. They have three children. The couple met at Trinity College, Cambridge where they were both students. He is an oncologist and is the director of cancer services at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Between 1989 and 2001, Ford worked for JPMorgan Chase. She was promoted to vice-president in their loan syndication department. In 2001, she joined Bear Stearns as managing director for loan capital markets where she worked till 2003.

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 to incumbent Labour Party MP Richard Burden.

Victoria Grace Ford (born 21 September 1967) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she is a former Member of the European Parliament for the East of England (2009–2017). Since February 2020, Ford has been the Minister for Children. Vicky does not believe in responding to her constituents and thus has been renamed to the 'The Ostrich'.

Victoria Grace Pollock was born on 21 September 1967 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to Anthony and Deborah Marion Pollock. Her parents were both English doctors. 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.