Mark Francois
Encyclopedia
Mark Gino Francois is a British
Conservative Party
politician
. He is the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford
.
, London
. He was educated at the Nicholas Comprehensive School
in Basildon
, Essex
and at the University of Bristol
where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts
degree in History
in 1986. He was also the chairman of the University's Conservative Association. He completed his studies at King's College London
where he earned a MA
in War Studies in 1987.
On leaving university
he became a management
trainee with Lloyds Bank
. In 1988 he joined lobbying
company Market Access International, leaving as a director in 1996 to set up his own lobbying firm Francois Associates.
for four years from 1991. He stood for Brent East during the 1997 general election
, and lost to Ken Livingstone
(who later became the Mayor of London
). Following the death of Alan Clark
in 1999, he narrowly lost out to Michael Portillo
in the selection for the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election
. On the retirement of Dr. Michael Clark at the 2001 general election
he beat Boris Johnson
to be selected to fight the safe Tory seat of Rayleigh
.
on 4 July 2001.http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010704/debtext/10704-15.htm#10704-15_spnew4
In Parliament
he served as a member of the environmental audit select committee for the duration of his first parliament. He was promoted to become an Opposition Whip
in 2003 by Michael Howard
, in September 2004, to be a Shadow Minister as Economic Secretary in the Shadow Treasury Team and latterly as the Shadow Paymaster General with shadow responsibility for HM Revenue & Customs.
He served as an officer the Territorial Army, including with the local Royal Anglian Regiment. He lives in Rayleigh
. He has been a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies
since 1999, a member of the Lions Club, President of the Rayleigh Conservative Club and Honorary President of the Rayleigh Brass. He was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Europe in May 2007 and took his special provision of membership of the Shadow Cabinet in the January 2009 Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle.
He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
on 9 June 2010. He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland.
He acted as the 'hostage' MP at Buckingham Palace during the State Opening of Parliament on 25 May 2010.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford
Rayleigh and Wickford (UK Parliament constituency)
Rayleigh and Wickford is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
Early life
Mark Gino Francois was born in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was educated at the Nicholas Comprehensive School
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in Basildon
Basildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
in 1986. He was also the chairman of the University's Conservative Association. He completed his studies at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
where he earned a MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in War Studies in 1987.
On leaving university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
he became a management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
trainee with Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
. In 1988 he joined lobbying
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
company Market Access International, leaving as a director in 1996 to set up his own lobbying firm Francois Associates.
Councillor and parliamentary candidate
He was a member of Basildon District CouncilBasildon (district)
Basildon is a local government district in south Essex in the East of England, centred around the town of Basildon. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from the former area of Basildon Urban District and the part of Thurrock Urban District that was within the...
for four years from 1991. He stood for Brent East during the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, and lost to Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
(who later became the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
). Following the death of Alan Clark
Alan Clark
Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative MP and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade, and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991...
in 1999, he narrowly lost out to Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
in the selection for the 1999 Kensington and Chelsea by-election
Kensington and Chelsea by-election, 1999
The Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea, Alan Clark, died of a brain tumour on September 5, 1999.This was the first safe Conservative seat to have a by-election in the Parliament. There was immediate speculation that Michael Portillo, the most high-profile casualty of the 1997 general...
. On the retirement of Dr. Michael Clark at the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
he beat Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
to be selected to fight the safe Tory seat of Rayleigh
Rayleigh (UK Parliament constituency)
Rayleigh was a parliamentary constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
.
Member of Parliament and Shadow Cabinet
Francois held the seat comfortably with a majority of 8,290 and remains the MP. He made his maiden speechMaiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
on 4 July 2001.http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010704/debtext/10704-15.htm#10704-15_spnew4
In Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
he served as a member of the environmental audit select committee for the duration of his first parliament. He was promoted to become an Opposition Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in 2003 by Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
, in September 2004, to be a Shadow Minister as Economic Secretary in the Shadow Treasury Team and latterly as the Shadow Paymaster General with shadow responsibility for HM Revenue & Customs.
He served as an officer the Territorial Army, including with the local Royal Anglian Regiment. He lives in Rayleigh
Rayleigh, Essex
Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in the District of Rochford in Essex, England, located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea. It lies to the east of central London. It has a population of 30,196, having expanded rapidly in the 1960s.-Toponymy:...
. He has been a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
since 1999, a member of the Lions Club, President of the Rayleigh Conservative Club and Honorary President of the Rayleigh Brass. He was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Europe in May 2007 and took his special provision of membership of the Shadow Cabinet in the January 2009 Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle.
He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
on 9 June 2010. He is a Vice-President of Conservative Friends of Poland.
He acted as the 'hostage' MP at Buckingham Palace during the State Opening of Parliament on 25 May 2010.