Vicky was born and grew up in Northern Ireland, her parents were both NHS doctors. Vicky's dad died in an accident when she was young, she has always been passionate about safety.
As a child she enjoyed maths and making things - cakes, clothes and dens in the wood. She read Maths and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge where she met her husband Hugo, a cancer specialist in the NHS. They have three children now in their twenties.
After University, Vicky had a successful career in financing, raising money for large infrastructure projects including the first mobile phone networks in the UK and many other countries. When her children were young she ran the local pre-school as a volunteer and got involved in local politics to help her local community.
Vicky represented the East of England, including Chelmsford, in the European Parliament where she led the laws to end mobile roaming and to ban the use of semi automatic firearms following the mass deaths of a terrorist attack in Paris.
Vicky Ford was first elected in 2017 as the Member of Parliament for Chelmsford. She is known to be one of the hardest working Members of Parliament and in her first two years as an MP she spoke over 600 times in the House of Commons.
Vicky was first elected as MP for Chelmsford in 2017 and is know to be one of the hardest working Members of Parliament. She has used here experience of infrastructure projects to deliver the long awaited Beaulieu Park Station and the funding for a much needed new junction at the Army and Navy.
She believes that all children should have access to opportunities and choices with what they do in the future. A tireless supporter of Chelmsford schools she has campaigned for fairer funding for Essex Schools and delivered stronger safety laws to protect children from online harm such as on-line pornography and self harm, including eating disorders. She chairs a global organisation bringing together MPs from sixty different countries that are passionate to ensure all children can access education.
As children's minister she rolled out a new national initiative, the Holiday Activities and Food Scheme, which has given hundreds of thousands of children the access to fun and enriching activities during the school breaks. She set up and runs an annual apprenticeship, skills and jobs fair in Chelmsford and helped bring the annual Science Festival to our city.
Recognising that the world is becoming a less secure place, Vicky keeps a keen eye on international matters. During her time as a Minister at at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office she was the UK's Governor of the World Bank, helped secure a peace deal in the war in Tigray and welcomed representatives coming together from across the world to tackle climate change at the COP 26 Conference in Glasgow. She was a key part in the UK team hosting world leaders as they paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II at her funeral.
Vicky takes her responsibilities to her constituents and parliament extremely seriously. She holds regular surgeries for constituents with concerns that need resolving and has helped thousands of Chelmsford residents to resolve individual issues. She has been elected by her peers to serve on select committees for Science and Technology, Women and Equalities, Energy Security and Net Zero and Education as well as Vice Chair of the British Group of the International Parliamentary Union.
A long-term campaigner on environmental matters, Vicky was a founder member of the Conservative Environment Network. She has chaired a number of all party groups including Online Safety in Social Media, Global Education, Women in Parliament, Rare Diseases, Infrastructure, Sudan and the Parliamentary Forum for Information and Communications Technology.
Vicky enjoys cricket, fly fishing, gardening and singing. She was elected by members of Essex County Cricket Club to represent them on the Board as a volunteer, she has helped tackle historic racism at the club and support expansion of the women's and ability teams.
******Please note that as of 00.01 on 30th May 2024, Vicky ceased to be the member of parliament for Chelmsford****
My work in Parliament
Vicky says: I want to keep you up-to-date with all the goings on of my working week in Westminster and Chelmsford as your MP.
You can read what I've been up to, including my 'A week in the life of an MP' series in the News section.
Please get in touch with me if I can help you through my work in Parliament." vicky.ford.mp@parliament.uk