Member of the European Parliament for the East of England
Which position did Vicky Ford hold from Jul 2009 to Jun 2014?
Vicky Ford Victoria Grace Ford ( née Pollock ; 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 investment banker , district councillor , and Member of the European Parliament for the East of England ( 2009–2017 ) . Since February 2020 , Ford has been the Minister for Children . 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 fathers death , she went to schools in England . Ford was educated at independent St Pauls Girls School , independent Marlborough College and then studied Maths and Economics at Trinity College , 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 until 2003 . Political career . 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 lost to incumbent Labour Party MP Richard Burden . In 2007 , she was a major contributor to the Conservative Partys 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 Conservatives and Reformists Group and a member of the Parliaments 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 . From 2009 to 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 . From 2014 to 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 . 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 Queens 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 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 . 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 . Personal life . Vicky married Hugo Ford in 1996 . They have three children . The couple met at the University of Cambridge , where she was a student at Trinity College and he was a student at Magdalene College . He is an oncologist and is the director of cancer services at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge .