Victoria Mary Prentis, Baroness Prentis of Banbury (néeBoswell; born 24 March 1971) is a British politician and barrister. A member of theConservative Party, Prentis served as theMember of Parliament forBanbury from2015 until her defeat in2024.[1]
Prentis was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food in February 2020, and was promoted to becomeMinister of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food in September 2021, during the secondcabinet reshuffle of thesecond Johnson ministry. She was appointedMinister of State for Work and Welfare by Prime MinisterLiz Truss in September 2022.[2][3][4] After Liz Truss resigned andRishi Sunak became Prime Minister, Prentis was appointedAttorney General for England and Wales, a position in which she served until her defeat in the 2024 general election.[5] She was appointed to thePrivy Council on 27 October 2022.[6]
Prentis was born Victoria Boswell, inBanbury, and grew up on the family farm in nearbyAynho. She has two sisters. She was educated atRoyal Holloway, University of London andDowning College, Cambridge, gaining degrees in English and Law respectively. She is the daughter ofLord Boswell of Aynho, who was MP forDaventry from 1987 to 2010.[7]
Prentis qualified as abarrister in 1995. She joined theCivil Service in 1997, leaving in November 2014. Her last job for the government was co-leading (in a jobshare) the "Justice and Security team" at theTreasury Solicitor's Department.[8]
In November 2014, Prentis was selected as the Conservative candidate for the Banbury constituency at the 2015 general election. She retained thesafe seat for the Conservatives (held by them since 1922). In Parliament she sat on theJustice Select Committee and theSelect Committee on Statutory Instruments. Prentis is an opponent ofHigh Speed 2, believing it will affect her constituency.[9] She rebelled against the Conservative government when the HS2 Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons in March 2016.[10]
Prentis was a founding supporter of Conservatives for Reform in Europe, a group which campaigned in support of the UK's membership of a reformedEuropean Union. Accordingly, she declared that she would vote remain in the2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[11][12]
Prentis supportedTheresa May's candidacy during the2016 Conservative leadership contest.[13] She was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to junior ministers in the Department for Transport in July 2016.
She was re-elected as the MP for Banbury in the 2017 general election.[14]
In May 2019, she endorsed candidateRory Stewart for the leadership of the Conservative Party.[15]
Prentis stated that she voted to remain in the European Union but had since given her support to Boris Johnson's deal.[16]
In February 2020, Prentis joined theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as theParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food.
In January 2021, Prentis said during an interview that her jaw did not drop when she read theEU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement which includes farming, fisheries and food because she was "very busy organising the local nativity trail".[17] She voted in favour of the agreement in-line with government policy.
In March 2022, Prentis was the first British MP to take aUkrainian refugee in her house amidst theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[18]
On 7 September, Prentis was appointedMinister of State for Work and Welfare at theDepartment for Work and Pensions by Prime MinisterLiz Truss in theTruss Ministry.[3]
Victoria Prentis was defeated by Labour candidateSean Woodcock at the2024 general election, one of many Conservative Cabinet ministers to lose their seat.Banbury had been consistently represented by a Conservative MP from 1922 until 2024.
Following the appointment ofRishi Sunak asPrime Minister on 25 October 2022,[19] Prentis was appointed by him asAttorney General for England and Wales and was officially sworn in as such on 16 November 2022.[20][21][22] She was appointed to thePrivy Council on 27 October 2022 and sworn of it on 14 December 2022.[23] As is tradition for those appointed as Attorney General who are not alreadyKing's Counsel, Prentis was appointed as King's Counsel on 23 November 2022.[24]
Prentis made an official visit toIsrael and theOccupied Palestinian Territories in February 2024.[25]
Prentis received alife peerage as part of the2024 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours and was createdBaroness Prentis of Banbury, of Somerton in the County of Oxfordshire on 13 May 2025.[26] She made her maiden speech on Monday 30 June 2025 during a debate on theChagos Archipelago, and was immediately followed by the valedictory speech of her fatherLord Boswell of Aynho.
Prentis is married to Sebastian Prentis, anInsolvency and Companies Court Judge, whom she met when they were both students at theUniversity of Cambridge. The couple have two daughters and live inSomerton,Oxfordshire.[27][28]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBanbury 2015–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byasMinister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food 2020–2022 | Succeeded byasMinister of State for Food |
| Preceded by | Attorney General for England and Wales 2022–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Advocate General for Northern Ireland 2022–2024 | ||
| Cabinet members | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attended meetings | ||
| Departures | ||
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