Open CTA Modal
Skip to main content

Shuttleworth student now Farm Minister

Shuttleworth College

Former Shuttleworth student Mark Spencer is now the Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) following recent changes.

The former Chief Whip, Mark has been appointed Defra Minister of State, replacing Victoria Prentis.

The MP for Sherwood, who comes from a farming background, said he was: 

“Looking forward to supporting food production and the environment and our rural communities.”

Mark Spencer, Farm Minister.

Born in 1970, Mark, from Nottinghamshire, studied at Shuttleworth College in Bedfordshire, before joining the family farm business.

He became an MP in 2010, and has served on the Environmental Audit Committee and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

He formerly served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to then-Defra Secretary Liz Truss, and was appointed Assistant Government Whip in 2016, before becoming a full government whip in 2017.

Mr Spencer was made Chief Whip in 2019 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Vice Principal of The Bedford College Group and lead at Shuttleworth College, Dr Catherine Lloyd said:

“We had Mark in our sights as a VIP visitor when he was Chief Whip, we hope he might take a trip down memory lane to see how we have moved with the times and the modern farming industry here in Central Bedfordshire.”

What else is going on?

The latest from The Bedford College Group

View more
Privacy Overview
The Bedford College Group University Centre Logo.

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

Analytical Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.