Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Office3:Baroness-in-Waiting
Government Whip
Primeminister3:Boris Johnson
Liz Truss[1]
Rishi Sunak[2]
Term Start3:30 July 2019
Term End3:2 June 2023
Predecessor3:The Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Successor3:The Lord Mott
Office5:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start5:13 September 2016
Life Peerage
Birth Date:30 June 1960
Alma Mater:United World College of the Atlantic
St Hugh's College, Oxford
Party:Conservative

Olivia Caroline Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (born 30 June 1960) is a British life peer and member of the House of Lords.

Education

She was educated at United World College of the Atlantic and read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at St Hugh's College, Oxford.[3]

Career

Bloomfield was a governor at The Cheltenham Ladies' College from 2003 to 2009.[4] She has worked for Bank of America, and then as a headhunter with a company known as Russell Reynolds Associates.[5] She worked for the Conservative party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters from approximately 2007 to 2010, and for this time, reported to Michael Spencer, the Conservative treasurer from 2007 to 2010.[6] Her role was varied, but she was hired to help raise funds for the 2010 general election, which also meant dealing with the party's then £8.5m deficit. The Daily Mirror reported that they believed The Leader's Group, a secretive group of high-value donors who had regular meetings with David Cameron, was run by Bloomfield.[7]

In January 2018, British Investigative magazine Private Eye reported Bloomfield had been forced to admit she had overlooked a personal connection when she had praised the "high standards of reporting and transparency" of financial services offered in the Cayman Islands. According to the magazine, she was later forced to admit that "a close family member is a director of a financial services company domiciled in the Cayman Islands".[8]

Bloomfield has held a post as a magistrate. She is also Chairman of the Pump House Project, an arts and parkour centre in her home town of Faringdon.[9] [10] She was also, for a time, a partner at the Atlantic Superconnection Corporation, a fund which plans to build an electric cable between Iceland and the UK.[11] [12]

She was nominated for a life peerage as part of David Cameron's Resignation Honours and was created Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist, of Hinton Waldrist in the County of Oxfordshire, on 5 September 2016.[13]

In June 2023, she resigned from the Sunak ministry as a Lords Whip (Baroness in Waiting).[14]

References

÷

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ministerial Appointments: September 2022 . 2022-09-22 . GOV.UK . en.
  2. Web site: Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022 . 2022-10-30 . GOV.UK . en.
  3. ‘BLOOMFIELD OF HINTON WALDRIST’, Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017
  4. Web site: Who is Olivia Bloomfield?. Hope. Christopher. 3 August 2016. The Telegraph. 6 August 2016.
  5. Web site: Former Cheltenham Ladies College governor who helped raise millions for Tories to be made a peer in David Cameron's resignation honours. Hope. Christopher. 3 August 2016. The Telegraph. 6 August 2016.
  6. News: Magistrate to whip up Tory funds. Waller. Martin. 21 February 2007. The Times. London, England. 48. The Times Digital Archive.
  7. Web site: Tories rake in £18million from businessman by selling access to leader David Cameron. 28 March 2010. Daily Mirror. 6 August 2016.
  8. Private Eye No. 1461. 12–25 January 2018. Page 12. "HP Sauce section"
  9. Web site: About Us. thepumphouseproject. 6 August 2016.
  10. Web site: Cameron's resignation peerages and honours list. 5 August 2016. Conservative Home. 6 August 2016.
  11. Web site: Britain to share more electricity with France and Ireland under new City scheme. Dakers. Marion. 2 January 2016. The Telegraph. 6 August 2016.
  12. Web site: Maritime Journal Icelandic connection moves forward with Swedish support. 29 July 2015. Maritime Journal. 6 August 2016.
  13. Web site: Resignation Honours 2016 – Publications. Government of the United Kingdom. 5 August 2016.
  14. Web site: Ministerial Appointments: June 2023 . 2023-06-11 . GOV.UK . en.