Victoria Borwick
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Victoria Lorne Peta Borwick, Baroness Borwick (''née'' Poore, 26 April 1956), is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as the Member of Parliament for
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
from
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to
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, becoming the first MP for
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
to lose the
seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...
to the Opposition. Prior to entering politics, Borwick pursued a career in
event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...
, working in senior management for P&O and DMG World Media. After joining Conservative Party HQ as fundraising director, she became a
councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
in Kensington and Chelsea and a Member of the London Assembly (MLA) from
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to 2015, serving as Deputy Mayor of London from 2012 to 2015.''Debrett's'' biographies


Personal and business life

Born in London, the
only child An only child is a person with no siblings, by birth or adoption. Overview Throughout history, only-children were relatively uncommon. From around the middle of the 20th century, birth rates and average family sizes fell sharply for a number of ...
of Wing Cdr Dennis Poore (1916–1987), a kinsman of the Poore baronets, she was educated at Wispers School. She married Jamie Borwick"Marriages", ''The Times'', 21 March 1981, p. 16. on 20 March 1981, who succeeded his uncle in 2007 as the 5th Baron Borwick and entered the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
in 2013 as one of the 92 elected
hereditary peers The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...
. They have three sons and a daughter:"Borwick, 5 Baron" in "Debrett's People of Today, 2014". 2nd son
the Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...
Thomas Borwick is a digital media strategist for the Conservative Party. Borwick was in the
event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...
industry for most of her working life, including being group director of events of
shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...
P&O.The Cost of the London Mayor
,
Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...
, January 2007.
She organised the Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fairs as director from 1990 to 2001, and in 2002 was recruited to assist International Fine Art Expositions' New International Fine Art Fair in New York City. As President of the British Antique Dealers' Association, she became the subject of media speculation during the run-up to the 2017 general election for using her friendship with
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
to influence the Conservative Party into dropping a 2015 manifesto pledge for the total ban of selling ivory in the United Kingdom. Admitted to the Freedom of the City of London, Lady Borwick is a member of the livery of the Clockmakers' Company.


Earlier political career

In September 1999, Borwick was chosen as Conservative mayoral candidate Steve Norris' running mate and potential deputy mayor for the 2000 London Mayoral election. She was also given a place on the Conservative Party list for the
London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...
, although unsuccessful in getting elected. Borwick was elected to Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council in May 2002 as Councillor for the Abingdon Ward.Abingdon Ward Local Elections May 2002
She became Director of Income Generation and Marketing for the Conservative Party in October 2002, with the aim of increasing revenue from the
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
's supporter base. In the run-up to the
2004 London Mayoral election The 2004 election to the post of Mayor of London took place on 10 June 2004. It was being held on the same day as 2004 United Kingdom local elections, other local elections and 2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, the UK par ...
, Borwick declared her intention to seek the Conservative mayoral candidacy. She made the
shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...
but was not one of the final two in the selection, which included Steve Norris who received the nomination. She spoke subsequently at the 2003 Conservative Party Conference in support of Norris. In her speech she said of the incumbent Mayor
Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...
that "you are the weakest link, goodbye", alluding to her supposed resemblance with the television presenter
Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is a British journalist and television presenter, best known as the host of BBC game show ''The Weakest Link'' from 2000 to 2012, and again in 2017 for a one-off celebrity special for ''Children ...
. Borwick assisted the think tank Open Europe from 2009 to 2015 as a member of its Advisory Board.


2008 London mayoral contest

Borwick announced her candidacy for the nomination for the 2008 mayoral election in July 2006. During her initial campaign, she declared "London needs a redhead, not Red Ken" in allusion to her hair colour. The Conservative Party, however, would later announce that the candidates "did not satisfy the party's hope of attracting a national name" and postponed the planned open primaries. In 2007, she published a
Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...
pamphlet entitled "The Cost of Ken" which itemised the
Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...
budget. In the middle of the postponed mayoral selection, Borwick unsuccessfully ran for the selection as Conservative London Assembly candidate for West Central against
Kit Malthouse Christopher Laurie "Kit" Malthouse (born 27 October 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Hampshire since 2015. He served as Secretary of State for Education ...
. The Mayoral selection resumed in summer 2007, and Borwick was one of the final four candidates shortlisted."Boris joins Tory four for London", ''Sunday Times'', 22 July 2007, p. 2. She finished second in the ballot, receiving 1,869 votes compared to the winner Boris Johnson's 15,661 ballots. She later acted as a
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
in Johnson's successful campaign.


Assembly Member and London Deputy Mayor

Borwick was elected to the
London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...
as one of three London-wide members for the Conservatives after the 2008 election. She had been placed second on the Conservative list for the election after unsuccessfully seeking to become a
prospective parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...
. Having been returned as a
Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
(AM) in the 2012 election,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
,
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
, appointed her Deputy Mayor of London in succession to Richard Barnes. In an interview with the ''
London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'' in 2013, Borwick was described as "the person who would step up should Boris ever fall under a roverbialLondon bus" as Johnson's "First Deputy". On 16 September 2015, she resigned from the Assembly, Conservative
Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (' Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservati ...
succeeding to her seat.


Parliamentary career


2015–17 Parliament

On 13 March 2015, Borwick was selected as the Conservative PPC for the
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
constituency at the 2015 general election. The seat was previously held by Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind during the 2010–2015 Parliament. On 7 May 2015, Borwick was elected as
Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
for Kensington with 18,199 votes (a majority of 7,361 over Labour). The Conservative vote increased by 2.2% compared with the previous election, though there was a 1.7% swing to Labour. She resigned as Deputy Mayor on 13 May 2015, being replaced by fellow Assembly Member, Roger Evans, and stood down from the Assembly on 16 September 2015, with
Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (' Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservati ...
appointed to her seat. ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...
'' revealed in June 2015 that Borwick was "topping up her Parliamentary salary with tens of thousands of pounds in public money from two additional elected roles", in contrast to the practice of other MPs who, despite also acting as London councillors, had given up their allowances to avoid taking multiple salaries on the public purse.


Views on the UK's EU membership

Borwick assisted the
eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...
think tank Open Europe from 2009, being a Member of the Advisory Board until 2015. Borwick publicly supported
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
in the 2016 referendum and, with her son, Thomas Borwick, campaigned for Vote Leave. This is in spite of the fact that the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...
(in which the Kensington constituency is located) had a greater proportion of EU nationals than any other London borough in 2016. 69% of the borough, in contrast to Borwick, voted in favour of Britain's continued membership of the European Union. The ''London Evening Standard'' reported that the discrepancy between Borwick's views on this matter and those of her constituents put her at risk of losing the Kensington seat in the 2017 general election. Borwick was one of over 70 signatories to an open letter from Conservative Members of Parliament to the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in March 2017, criticising the broadcaster's coverage of Brexit and accusing it of being "unable to break out of pre-referendum pessimism" by ignoring "economic good news" since the referendum.


2017 general election

The British press reported in the run-up to the election that Borwick, being acquainted with the incumbent
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
, was influential in the decision to remove from the Conservative manifesto the party's previous pledge of a total ban on ivory trading. Borwick, who also serves as President of the British Antique Dealers' Association, told the House of Commons in 2016 "any ban on antique ivory is cultural vandalism". She restated her mission to keep the
ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, black and white rhinos, mammoth, and most commonly, African elephant, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundred ...
alive in 2019. On 31 May 2017, Borwick participated alongside rival parliamentary candidates at a local hustings in
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
, at which, according to the ''
London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'', she was repeatedly heckled and booed by constituents. Borwick did not attend the subsequent constituency hustings on 5 June 2017 in Earl's Court, an absence that was mocked by the ''Evening Standard''. On 7 June 2017, Borwick's campaign team was accused in the media of having deleted comments from residents of Kensington on her social media platforms. Borwick lost by 20 votes to Labour, which won the Kensington seat for the first time. The Conservatives' loss of this once-safe seat surprised many and was widely reported in the British and international media as a consequence of Borwick's support of a hard Brexit. In the final result, Borwick lost the seat to the Labour candidate Emma Dent Coad on a 10.6% swing. The winner was declared nearly 24 hours after polls closed because three recounts were necessary. In her speech conceding defeat, she stated her intention to "start the fight back for Kensington and the Conservatives". However, her bid to be re-stand for the seat was derailed in the summer of 2019 when executive members of the local Conservative party ruled her out of the contest.


Arms


See also

* Baron Borwick * Poore baronets


References


External links

*
Victoria Borwick
at the House of Commons. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borwick, Victoria 1956 births Living people People educated at Wispers School Politicians from London 21st-century British women politicians UK MPs 2015–2017 Women councillors in England Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Conservative Members of the London Assembly London AMs 2008–2012 London AMs 2012–2016