Vicky Ford

Early life and career

Ford was born and raised in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. 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 Northern Irish Alliance Party. She attended primary school in Northern Ireland, but following her father's death she went to secondary school in England.

Ford was educated at Omagh Academy, St Paul's Girls' School, she was awarded an academic scholarship to Marborough College and studied Maths and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Before entering politics, Ford had a 14-year career in banking, 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.

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

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. She was a member of the Bureau of the European Conservative and Reformist 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 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, 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.

Member of Parliament

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.

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. Her hobbies include fly fishing and gardening. She plays the piano and clarinet as well as singing in a local choir.