Victoria Collins
Victoria Mei Elizabeth Collins is a Liberal Democrat politician and entrepreneur who has served as Member of Parliament for Harpenden and Berkhamsted since 2024.
Background
Collins was privately educated at Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School, before studying history at Durham University from 2006 to 2009. She later completed a master's degree in international economic policy at Sciences Po in Paris.She is of Chinese descent. In her maiden speech in Parliament, Collins indicated that her mother arrived in the United Kingdom from Malaysia for her education in 1974, and her mother went on to run a shop where Victoria helped as she was growing up.
Early career
She has previously worked on economic and environmental policy in the European Parliament, and was a contributor on Forbes's website. She has also worked as an independent consultant on sustainability.Political career
Collins contested the Poole constituency for the Liberal Democrats at the 2019 general election. She came third, with 15.5% of the vote.Collins was selected as the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for the South West Hertfordshire constituency in October 2022. However, due to the 2023 Boundary Commission changes, she was no longer located within the constituency, and she therefore was made to be the candidate for the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. She was elected to represent the constituency with a majority of 10,708 votes over the second place Conservative candidate Nigel Gardner.