Editing Mark Simmonds (section)

{{Short description|British politician (born 1964)}}
{{For|the Australian saxophonist|Mark Simmonds (saxophonist)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = Mark Simmonds
| honorific-suffix = 
| image = High Level Prosperity Partnerships (10950413836).jpg
| caption = Simmonds in 2014
| office = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa]]<br />[[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific]]
| term_start = 5 September 2012
| term_end = 11 August 2014
| primeminister = [[David Cameron]]
| predecessor = [[Henry Bellingham]]
| successor = [[James Duddridge]]
| office2 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Boston and Skegness]]
| term_start2 = 7 June 2001
| term_end2 = 30 March 2015
| predecessor2 = [[Sir Richard Body]]
| successor2 = [[Matt Warman]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|04|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Worksop]], [[Nottinghamshire]], [[England]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| nationality = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| spouse = Lizbeth Hanomancin Garcia
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| relations = 
| children = 
| residence = 
| alma_mater = [[Trent Polytechnic]]
| occupation = 
| profession = 
| religion = 
| signature = 
| footnotes = 
}}
'''Mark Jonathon Mortlock Simmonds''' (born 12 April 1964) is a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician in the [[United Kingdom]].  He was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Boston and Skegness]] in [[Lincolnshire]], and was first elected in [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]], succeeding [[Sir Richard Body]]. He was re-elected in [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]] and [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]].

In September 2012 he was appointed to the [[Government of the United Kingdom|Government]] as a [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Asia and the Pacific) |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/parliamentary-under-secretary-of-state--23 |access-date=2022-10-19 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref> On 11 August 2014 he resigned this post and confirmed that he would step down as an MP at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas |last=Watt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/11/africa-minister-mark-simmonds-resigns |title=Africa minister Mark Simmonds resigns &#124; Politics |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=11 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415024258/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/11/africa-minister-mark-simmonds-resigns |archive-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2015, he was appointed non-executive director of the [[Alternative Investment Market|AIM]]-listed fertiliser company, African Potash.<ref>{{cite news |title=African Potash appoints former politician to board |url=http://www.mining.com/web/african-potash-appoints-former-politician-to-board/ |accessdate=14 January 2020 |publisher=MINING.COM |date=26 October 2015}}</ref> On 6 January 2020, Simmonds was appointed a non-executive director of the AIM-listed African [[oil exploration]] company, [[Lekoil Limited|LEKOIL]], a week before the company announced that it had been the victim of a US$184m fraud.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/01/13/embarassment-former-africa-minister-mark-simmonds-possible-scam/|title=Ex-minister hired by oil explorer Lekoil left red-faced over fears it has been scammed|last=Millard|first=Rachel|date=2020-01-13|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2020-01-14|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref name="times-scorn">{{cite news |last1=Osborne |first1=Alistair |title=Pouring oil on some troubled waters |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/pouring-oil-on-some-troubled-waters-nrx92glrn |access-date=14 January 2020 |work=The Times |date=14 January 2020}}</ref>