Rt Hon Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford
Mark Francois has been an MP since 2001. Currently: Shadow Minister (Defence); Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Communities and Local Government) (Department for Communities and Local Government) | 2015 to 2016 | |
| Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Ministry of Defence) | 2012 to 2015 | |
| Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons) (HM Household) | 2010 to 2012 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Minister (Defence) (Ministry of Defence) | 2024 to now | Now |
| Shadow Minister (Europe) (HM Official Opposition) | 2007 to 2010 | |
| Shadow Paymaster General (Cabinet Office) | 2005 to 2007 | |
| Shadow Economic Secretary (Treasury) (HM Treasury) | 2004 to 2005 | |
| Opposition Whip (Commons) (Whips Office (Commons)) | 2002 to 2004 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill | 2026 to now | Now |
| Armed Forces Commissioner Bill | 2024 | |
| British Citizenship (Northern Ireland) Bill | 2024 | |
| Public Accounts Committee | 2021 to 2024 | |
| Defence Sub-Committee | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Defence Committee | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Defence Sub-Committee | 2017 to 2019 | |
| Defence Committee | 2017 to 2019 |
Show the other 3
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Armed Forces Bill Committee | 2011 | |
| Administration Committee | 2010 to 2012 | |
| Environmental Audit Committee | 2001 to 2005 |
Political Interests
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Mark Francois has 4 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | Railscape Group Ltd - £700.00 | 17 Sep 2026 |
| Visits outside the UK | International visit to United States between 21 April 2026 and 25 April 2026 | 5 May 2026 |
| Visits outside the UK | International visit to Ukraine between 19 February 2026 and 25 February 2026 | 18 Mar 2026 |
| Employment and earnings | Writing a book | – |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Mark Francois asked 90 written questions in the last 12 months.
Who they asked
Latest questions
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
79 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Mark Francois represents Rayleigh and Wickford. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Conservative
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Mark Francois won with 37% of the votes, and Grant Randall (Reform UK) came second with 25%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Francois | Conservative | 17,756 | 37.0% |
| Grant Randall | Reform UK | 12,135 | 25.3% |
| James Hedges | Labour | 11,823 | 24.6% |
| Stewart Mott | Liberal Democrat | 4,068 | 8.5% |
| Chris Taylor | Green Party | 2,196 | 4.6% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Mark Francois took part in 133 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Mark Francois voted the same way as their party in 132 of the 132 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | Against | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
| 7 Sep | Health: a proposed change | For | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this