Mark Francois

The Right Honourable Mark Francois MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the European Research Group
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 March 2020
Deputy	David Jones Andrea Jenkyns
Leader	Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Steve Baker
Deputy Chair of the European Research Group
In office 19 March 2018 – 3 March 2020 Serving with Steve Baker (2018–2019) and Andrea Jenkyns (2019–2020)
Leader	Theresa May Boris Johnson
Chairman	Jacob Rees-Mogg Steve Baker
Preceded by	Michael Tomlinson
Succeeded by	David Jones
Minister of State for Communities and Resilience
In office 11 May 2015 – 16 July 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of State for Portsmouth
In office 11 May 2015 – 16 July 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Preceded by	Matt Hancock
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office 7 October 2013 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by	Penny Mordaunt
Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans
In office 4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Andrew Robathan
Succeeded by	Anna Soubry
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office 11 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Helen Jones
Succeeded by	Greg Knight
Shadow Minister for Europe
In office 29 May 2007 – 11 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Graham Brady
Succeeded by	Chris Bryant
Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford Rayleigh (2001–2010)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Michael Clark
Majority	31,000 (56.5%)
Personal details
Born	(1965-08-14) 14 August 1965 (age 58) London, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Karen Thomas ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2006)​ Olivia Sanders ​ (m. 2022)​
Residence(s)	Rayleigh, Essex, England
Alma mater	University of Bristol King's College London
Website	www.markfrancois.com
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	1985–1989 part-time reservist
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Royal Anglian Regiment Army Catering Corps Reserves

Mark Gino Francois (/frɑːnˈswɑː/; born 14 August 1965) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford, since the 2001 general election.

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). 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.^[1]

In 2018, he was appointed deputy chair and de facto whip^[2][3] 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.^[4] In March 2020 he became the Chair of the ERG.