Mark Francois
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| Mark Francois MP | |
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Shadow Minster of Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Europe
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 29 May 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Graham Brady |
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| Born | August 14, 1965  Islington, London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Religion | Church of England |
Mark Francois (born August 14, 1965) is a British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Rayleigh. He is currently Shadow Europe Minister.
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[edit] Early life
Mark Gino Francois was born in Islington, 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.
[edit] Councillor and Parliamentary candidate
He was a member of Basildon District Council 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.
[edit] 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 speech on July 4, 2001.[1]
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 and Honorary President of the Rayleigh Brass. He was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Europe in May 2007.
[edit] Personal life
He married Karen Thomas in June 2000 in Langdon Hills, Basildon.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by Michael Clark |
Member of Parliament for Rayleigh 2001 – present |
Incumbent |
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| Preceded by Graham Brady |
Shadow Minister of Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Europe 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
