Olivia Caroline (nee Provis ) Bloomfield, Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (born 30 June 1960) is a British

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and member of 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 ...

Early life and education

Born in Bonvilston, the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

, she was educated at United World College of the Atlantic and read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, graduating in 1979.

Career

Bloomfield was a governor at The Cheltenham Ladies' College from 2003 to 2009. She has worked for

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

, and then as a headhunter with a company known as Russell Reynolds Associates. She worked for the Conservative party at

Conservative Campaign Headquarters The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, including campaign coordinators and man ...

from approximately 2007 to 2010, and for this time, reported to Michael Spencer, the Conservative treasurer from 2007 to 2010. Her role was varied, but she was hired to help raise funds for the 2010 general election, which also meant dealing with the party's then £8.5m deficit. The

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

reported that they believed The Leader's Group, a secretive group of high-value donors who had regular meetings with

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, was run by Bloomfield. In January 2018, British Investigative magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' 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 The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

. 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". Bloomfield has held a post as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. She is also Chairman of the Pump House Project, an arts and

parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...

centre in her home town of

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...

. She was also, for a time, a partner at the Atlantic Superconnection Corporation, a fund which plans to build an electric cable between

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and the UK. She was nominated for a

age as part of

's Resignation Honours and was created Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist, of Hinton Waldrist in the County of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, on 5 September 2016. During her maiden speech, she told the

that she was learning the Welsh language. Since 2018, she has acted in support of U.S. nuclear

small modular reactor The small modular reactor (SMR) is a class of small nuclear fission reactor, designed to be built in a factory, shipped to operational sites for installation, and then used to power buildings or other commercial operations. The term SMR refers t ...

company

Terrestrial Energy Terrestrial Energy is a nuclear technology company working on Generation IV reactor, Generation IV nuclear technology. It expects its nuclear plant to produce cost-competitive, high-temperature thermal energy with zero emissions. The company is d ...

, for which she received share options in 2018, now lapsed, and again in 2023. In June 2023, she resigned from the

Sunak ministry The Sunak ministry began on 25 October 2022 when Rishi Sunak was invited by King Charles III to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister of the United Kingdom. October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Truss resigned as Leader of the Conserv ...

as a Lords Whip (Baroness in Waiting). In November 2024,

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 her as Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales.

References

÷ {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield, Olivia 1960 births Living people People educated at Atlantic College Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) life peers Bank of America people Magistrates' courts in England and Wales Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II