Chloe Smith – Keynote Speaker

Rt Hon Chloe Smith has been MP for Norwich North since 2009. She’s a senior legislator with over a decade of complex ministerial experience including running the biggest department in the UK government with a budget of hundreds of billions. She has worked at the heart of Westminster for fifteen years, seeing six Prime Ministers, and winning election five times in her constituency of Norwich North.

She provides insight into the global economy, labour market, pensions and the future of work from her service as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work.

She is passionate about disability, diversity and talent in business – and she brings a unique viewpoint as a custodian of the Equality Act and from her track record of helping people into jobs.

In the top list of 2022 Women in Westminster, the year she overcame breast cancer, she is an advocate for women in leadership. She speaks publicly to encourage others to check for signs of cancer and seek support. She was one of the first in her party to take maternity leave from Parliament.
Chloe also shares her expertise as Minister for the Constitution and Devolution, from the coalition government to coronavirus via Brexit. She’s an energetic speaker who explains the challenges of public service in a demanding, dynamic era.

First the youngest MP in the Commons at 27, one of the youngest ministers since Pitt at 28 and in Cabinet at 40 before leaving Parliament, she illustrates the millennial generation in politics.

She’s known as a compassionate, effective and determined leader who listens, and forges consensus – like when she broke ground by recognising British Sign Language in law. Her style is described as inclusive, inspirational, straightforward and decisive.

Chloe works with businesses, charities, education institutions and think tanks to get things done. She speaks at the Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government and the Institute for Government, as well as the University of East Anglia.

Before entering Parliament, Chloe worked for international consultancy firm Deloitte, advising private businesses, government departments and public bodies.

As an MP, Chloe has represented Britain internationally through the Inter-Parliamentary Union, training overseas sister parties in Africa and Eastern Europe through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, and, via the UN, assisting new MPs in Burma in developing their Parliament. As a senior minister, she led the UK delegation at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

A mother of two, she loves cycling and kayaking.