After 14 years as MP for Worcester from 2010 to 2024, I have returned to the world of strategic communications and joined Cardew Group to lead their work in Education and in Mining and Metals.. Prior to politics I had a successful career in financial communications where I rose to become a partner of Finsbury Ltd.As an MP I was as elected to the Select Committee for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2012. I helped to lead the cross party f40 campaign for fairer funding overa number of years. This campaign secured £390 million for schools in the lowest funded parts of the country of which £6.7m came to Worcestershire. In later years I helped secure £46 million in funding for regeneration and development in the city, upgrades to our hospital and a medical school. I also secured funding for key local transport projects such as Worcestershire Parkway Station and the dualling of the Southern Link Road.I backed cross party campaigns including the APPG for regeneration through innovation, the campaign for financial education for young people, & for Apprenticeships. In 2014 I became Chair of the APPG for credit unions and was named CAB Parliamentarian of the Year for a successful campaign to cap payday loans and make high cost credit providers contribute to financial advice.In the 2016 referendum, I campaigned for remain on pragmatic grounds but always made clear I would respect whatever voters decided. When the result came in and both my constituency and the country had voted to leave I determined to work as hard as I could to deliver this result with a deal.Having previously served as PPS in three Departments, Northern Ireland, DEFRA and Education, in 2016 joined the Government as Minister in the new Department for Exiting the European Union. After 3 years, serving longer than any other Minister and helping to secure the withdrawal agreement and transition period, I moved to the Scotland office and the Northern Ireland Office. Following the 2019 election in which I secured my highest majority and share of the vote, I returned the NIO helping to support the work of the Secretary of State in securing the New Decade New Approach deal which restored devolved Government & in February 2020 I was promoted to Minister of State. My last Ministerial post was as Minister for Schools where I helped to write a white paper, supported the return to school after the pandemic and delivered a record funding settlement for schools. I resigned from Government in July 2022 and was elected chair of the Education Committee by cross party colleagues later that year.