The U.K. government has appointed Vicky Ford as minister for development, creating a new position that will have a place in the cabinet of Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Ford is the first dedicated minister for development since the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Previously, the now-defunct Department for International Development was led by a secretary of state for international development.
Ford previously served as minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in FCDO, beginning in 2021. As a minister of state, she is junior to the new foreign secretary, James Cleverly. Before entering politics — she was elected a member of Parliament for Chelmsford in 2017 — Ford was a banker and spent much of her career financing international infrastructure investment.