Olivia Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist | |
|---|---|
Bloomfield in September 2019 | |
| Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales | |
| Assumed office 30 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | John Lamont |
| Baroness-in-Waiting Government Whip for Wales | |
| In office 30 July 2019 – 2 June 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson Liz Truss[1] Rishi Sunak[2] |
| Preceded by | The Baroness Vere of Norbiton |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Mott |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 5 September 2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 June 1960 |
| Party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | United World College of the Atlantic St Hugh's College, Oxford |
Olivia Caroline (nee Provis [3]) Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (born 30 June 1960) is a British life peer and member of the House of Lords.
Early life and education
Born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan and later brought up in Bonvilston (also in the Vale of Glamorgan),[4][5] she was educated at United World College of the Atlantic and read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at St Hugh's College, Oxford, graduating in 1979.[6] Her late father was a steel worker in the steel works in Cardiff.[7]
Career
Bloomfield was a governor at The Cheltenham Ladies' College from 2003 to 2009.[8] She has worked for Bank of America, and then as a headhunter with a company known as Russell Reynolds Associates.[8][9]
Bloomfield has held a post as a magistrate.[8] She is also Chairman of the Pump House Project, an arts and parkour centre in her home town of Faringdon.[10][11] 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][13]
Conservative Party
She was recruited by David Cameron and billionaire Michael Spencer - the Conservative treasurer from 2007 - 2010 - to work for the Conservative party at Conservative Campaign Headquarters from approximately 2007 to 2010, where she reported to both men.[9][14] Her role was varied, but she was hired to help raise funds for the 2010 general election, which also meant dealing - and later clearing - with the party's then £8.5million deficit.[9]
The Daily Mirror revealed 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.[15]
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".[16]
After eliminating the Conservative Party's deficit, 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.[17][18] During her maiden speech, she told the House of Lords that she was learning the Welsh language.[4]
Since 2018, she has acted in support of U.S. nuclear small modular reactor company Terrestrial Energy, for which she received share options in 2018, now lapsed, and again in 2023.[19]
In June 2023, she resigned from the Sunak ministry as a Lords Whip (Baroness in Waiting), following the bereavement of a family member.[20]
In November 2024, Kemi Badenoch appointed her as Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, succeeding John Lamont MP.
Personal life
Bloomfield divides her time between Oxfordshire, London and Pembrokeshire.[21]
References
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ "Chronicle (October 2017 - September 2018)" (PDF). St Hugh’s College Oxford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Policing, devolution, Syria, and a Lords maiden speech". BBC News. 13 October 2016.
- ^ "Spoken contributions of Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ‘BLOOMFIELD OF HINTON WALDRIST’, Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017
- ^ Mansfield, Mark (29 August 2025). "Without the Conservatives there wouldn't be a steel plant in Port Talbot any more - it's as simple as that". Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ a b c Hope, Christopher (3 August 2016). "Who is Olivia Bloomfield?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "About Us". thepumphouseproject. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Cameron's resignation peerages and honours list". Conservative Home. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ Dakers, Marion (2 January 2016). "Britain to share more electricity with France and Ireland under new City scheme". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Maritime Journal | Icelandic connection moves forward with Swedish support". Maritime Journal. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ Waller, Martin (21 February 2007). "Magistrate to whip up Tory funds". The Times. London, England. p. 48 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Tories rake in £18million from businessman by selling access to leader David Cameron". Daily Mirror. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ Private Eye No. 1461. 12–25 January 2018. Page 12. "HP Sauce section"
- ^ "Resignation Honours 2016 – Publications". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "No. 61700". The London Gazette. 9 September 2016. p. 19232.
- ^ Dyer, Henry; Evans, Rob (9 April 2025). "Questions over Tory peer's support for nuclear company's UK ambitions". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: June 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ "Contact". Troed Y Rhiw. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
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