26 Facts About Mark Francois

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

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

Mark Francois's father was an engineer and his mother was an Italian au pair.

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

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

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

Mark Francois 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 MP in 2001.

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

Mark Francois stood for the Brent East constituency in the 1997 general election.

Mark Francois came second to the incumbent, Labour's Ken Livingstone.

Mark Francois contested the election to be the Conservatives' prospective parliamentary candidate for Kensington and Chelsea in the 1999 by-election.

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

Mark Francois made his maiden speech on 4 July 2001.

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

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

Mark Francois 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 scrutinising HMRC.

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

Mark Francois joined the Privy Council on 9 June 2010.

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

Since September 2017, Mark Francois has sat on the Defence Select Committee and is a former member of the Administration Committee, the Committee of Selection, Defence Committee and Environmental Audit Committee.

Mark Francois is a vice-president of Conservative Friends of Poland.

In 2019, Mark Francois became one of the 28 so called Tory "Brexit Spartans" who voted against Theresa May's Brexit deal all three times it was put to the House of Commons.

On 3 March 2020, Mark Francois was announced as chair of the ERG, succeeding Steve Baker.

In November 2022, Labour MP Sarah Owen criticised Mark Francois for using an "outdated and crass racial slur" in the House of Commons when he referred to Japanese people as "Japs".

Mark Francois later said he was complimenting the Japanese shipbuilding industry and used the word "Japs" as an abbreviation for Japanese.

Mark Francois married Karen Thomas at Langdon Hills, Basildon, in June 2000.