Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist

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

The Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Bloomfield in September 2019
Baroness-in-Waiting
Government Whip
In office
30 July 2019 – 2 June 2023
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Liz Truss[1]
Rishi Sunak[2]
Preceded byThe Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Succeeded byThe Lord Mott
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
13 September 2016
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1960-06-30) 30 June 1960 (age 64)
Political partyConservative
Alma materUnited World College of the Atlantic
St Hugh's College, Oxford

Education

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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

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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.[4][5][when?] 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.[5][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.[5] 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.[4] 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.[10][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][14]

In June 2023, she resigned from the Sunak ministry as a Lords Whip (Baroness in Waiting).[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  3. ^ ‘BLOOMFIELD OF HINTON WALDRIST’, Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017
  4. ^ a b c Hope, Christopher (3 August 2016). "Who is Olivia Bloomfield?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Hope, Christopher (3 August 2016). "Former Cheltenham Ladies College governor who helped raise millions for Tories to be made a peer in David Cameron's resignation honours". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  6. ^ Waller, Martin (21 February 2007). "Magistrate to whip up Tory funds". The Times. London, England. p. 48 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ "Tories rake in £18million from businessman by selling access to leader David Cameron". Daily Mirror. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  8. ^ Private Eye No. 1461. 12–25 January 2018. Page 12. "HP Sauce section"
  9. ^ "About Us". thepumphouseproject. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Cameron's resignation peerages and honours list". Conservative Home. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  11. ^ Dakers, Marion (2 January 2016). "Britain to share more electricity with France and Ireland under new City scheme". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Maritime Journal | Icelandic connection moves forward with Swedish support". Maritime Journal. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Resignation Honours 2016 – Publications". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  14. ^ "No. 61700". The London Gazette. 9 September 2016. p. 19232.
  15. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: June 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ladies
Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
Followed by

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