Vicky Ford

Victoria Grace Ford (née Pollock, 21 September 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for Development from 6 September to 25 October 2022. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford since 2017. She is a former investment banker, district councillor, and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2009 to 2017. Ford served as a Minister in the Department for Education from 2020 to 2021 before moving to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in the government led by Boris Johnson. In September 2022, she was promoted by new Prime Minister Liz Truss to Minister of State for Development. She returned to the backbenches on 25 October 2022, resigning shortly after Liz Truss resigned as prime minister. Early life and career 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. She attended primary school and Omagh Academy in Northern Ireland, but following her father's death, she went to schools in England. Ford was educated at independent St Paul's Girls' School, independent Marlborough College and then studied Maths and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge.