Caroline Spelman became the shadow secretary for international development under the new Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, and is also the opposition spokesperson for women's issues.
In a recent Guardian article on events in Afghanistan and the plight of the Afghan people Ms Spelman writes: "To win the war on terrorism, we must not only re-establish the rule of international law in places like Afghanistan, we have to tackle the humanitarian consequences of life under the Taliban regime."
Amongst the first of the new 1997 intake to be promoted, Ms Spelman joined the Tory whips' office in June 1998.
After a year she was promoted to front bench spokeswoman on health and women's issues.
Ms Spelman earned a first in European Studies from Queen Mary College, London.
She worked for the National Farmers Union and the International Confederation of European Beetgrowers in Paris before undertaking research at the Centre for European Agricultural Studies.
An expert in agriculture, she has written a book about the non-food uses of agricultural raw materials, and is a member of the Food from Britain Council.
She is an unpaid director of the family business, a food and biotechnology consultancy. She is opposed to the euro.
