Chloe Smith

Chloe Smith.
Source: Cabinet Office

Chloe Smith (born 17 May 1982) was Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2011 until a reshuffle in September 2012 saw her moved to the Cabinet Office. As the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, she had responsibility for overseeing the Government's preparation of a statutory lobbying register. Smith left the Government in October 2013.

Smith was elected Conservative Party MP for Norwich North at a 2009 by-election following the resignation of Labour MP Ian Gibson after the MPs' expenses scandal. She retained the seat on new boundaries at the 2010 general election. In the 2015 election, she was re-elected with a majority of 4,463.

Since May 2015, Smith has been the parliamentary private secretary to the chairman of the Conservative Party Lord Feldman.

Background

After graduating from York University Smith joined Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, where as a management consultant she advised private businesses, government departments and public bodies, which according to her website gave her "a lot of valuable experience".

Political career

In her gap year Smith worked for former Conservative education secretary Gillian Shepherd, whom she describes as a "real mentor". She also worked for former Conservative vice chairman Bernard Jenkin. Smith was appointed an assistant Government Whip in 2010. She replaced Justine Greening as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 14 October 2011, in the reshuffle following Liam Fox's resignation from the Government.

Help from donors

Smith has has received more than £30,000 in either donations or IT support from Norwich based IT firm The Computer Service Centre, including a donation of £14,656.62 in February 2014.

Smith said: 'Donations to my campaign are all clearly recorded and available for scrutiny as per the law. They are all from people who agree that I’m a good MP for Norwich North and who want to support me and the Conservative Party winning the next election. I spend the money raised on communicating with people in Norwich North. For example, printing a leaflet to deliver to every home, or running a website, or renting an office, costs money. I do my job by being in touch and you can’t achieve speaking to 65,000 people on fresh air alone.

'There’s no consensus on if or how to change the ways that candidates gain campaign support. The taxpayer should not be asked to pay for political party work. Meanwhile Labour wants to protect the fortune it gets from the trade unions, who hold influence over Ed Miliband in return and would take Britain back to the 1970s.'

Affiliations

Party groups

Member: Conservative Friends of Israel 2001-, Conservative Party Implementation Team 2008-09, Tory Reform Group 2009-

Select committees

Member: Work and Pensions 2009-10

Councils, public bodies

Honorary Vice-President, Norfolk Association of Local Councils 2009-; School governor, Heartsease Primary School, Norwich 2010-

People

• Emily Hamilton - now head of press at lobbying firm Westbourne Communications, previously ran Chloe Smith’s Westminster office during her time as an opposition backbencher general election candidate, and Government Whip after the 2009 Norwich North by-election. Hamilton joined Westbourne in April 2011 directly after working for Smith as Parliamentary Assistant from July 2009, and for Chris Grayling the year beforehand.

Accountancy firm

• In January 2012 Chloe Smith declared the following income on the MPs' Register of Interests: a payment of £850 from Deloitte MCS Ltd, 2 New Street Square, London, for business consultancy. Hours worked: 1 week, prior to resignation, post by-election."