Mark Francois

Mark Gino Francois (born 14 August 1965) is a British politician.

Mark Gino Francois was born on 14 August 1965 in Islington, London to Anna ( Carloni) and Reginald Francois.

His father was an engineer and his mother was an Italian au pair.

The family moved to Basildon in 1971.

His secondary education was at the Nicholas Comprehensive School (now part of James Hornsby School).

In 1983, whilst at university, he joined the Territorial Army (TA), the part-time reserve force of the British Army.

Given the service number 523962, Francois was commissioned in December 1985 and served with the Royal Anglian Regiment until September 1989, reaching the rank of Lieutenant.

After university, Francois became a management trainee with Lloyds Bank.

He studied history at the University of Bristol and graduated in 1986.

Francois stated that he joined the Conservative Party when he was studying in Bristol.

He went on to complete a master's degree in War Studies at King's College London in 1987.

He then worked as a political consultant for the lobbying company Market Access International in 1988, leaving to set up his own lobbying firm, Francois Associates, in 1996, which he closed when he was elected as an MP in 2001.

He was a member of Basildon District Council for the Langdon Hills ward from 1991 to 1995.

On the council, he served as vice-chair of the housing committee from 1992 to 1995.

Francois stood for the Brent East constituency in the 1997 general election, coming second to the incumbent, Labour's Ken Livingstone. Francois contested the election to be the Conservatives' prospective parliamentary candidate for Kensington and Chelsea in the 1999 by-election.

The contest was won by Michael Portillo, who garnered 60% of the final ballot.

A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford, since the 2001 general election.

He was selected as the party's candidate for Rayleigh in the 2001 general election.

Francois won the seat with a majority of 8,290.

He made his maiden speech on 4 July 2001.

Francois was re-elected in the 2005 general election with an increased majority of 14,726.

He served as a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee for the duration of his first term in Parliament.

He was promoted to become an Opposition Whip in 2003 by Michael Howard; to Shadow Economic Secretary in May 2004; and later to Shadow Paymaster General (10 May 2005 – 3 July 2007) scrutinising HMRC.

He was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Europe on 3 July 2007, and joined the Shadow Cabinet at the January 2009 reshuffle.

As Shadow Minister for Europe Francois oversaw the Conservative Party's withdrawal from the EPP grouping in the European Parliament, the creation of the ECR grouping and the Conservatives' opposition in the House of Commons to the Treaty of Lisbon, which he spoke against on many occasions including on 5 March 2008 in the debate to pass the European Union (Amendment) Act 2008.

Francois served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (2010–2012), a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence (2012–2013) and Minister of State for the Armed Forces (2013–2015).

When the Rayleigh constituency was abolished, Francois was elected in the new seat of Rayleigh & Wickford in the 2010 general election.

Francois won with a majority of 22,338 votes, 42.7%, receiving 57.8% of all the votes cast.

When the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats joined in a coalition government following the 2010 general election, he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a sinecure given to a Government Whip that entails being kept as 'captive' at Buckingham Palace when the Queen opens Parliament.

He joined the Privy Council on 9 June 2010.

In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the Armed Forces Act 2011.

He was appointed Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans in the Ministry of Defence in September 2012.

From October 2013 to May 2015, he was Minister of State with responsibility for the armed forces, cyber activity, and force generation.

He was also Minister of State for Communities and Resilience and Minister for Portsmouth at the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2015 to 2016.

At the 2015 general election, Francois was re-elected as the MP for Rayleigh and Wickford with a reduced majority of 17,230 votes.

Following the election, he became Minister of State for Communities and Resilience and Minister for Portsmouth at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Francois left the government after Theresa May was appointed Prime Minister, but she appointed him to conduct a review into the use of reserves in the Army.

In 2018, he was appointed deputy chair and de facto whip of the eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) by chair Jacob Rees-Mogg.

He was a critic of the leadership of Theresa May during her time as leader of the Conservative Party.

In March 2020 he became the Chair of the ERG.