Maybe she's a German?

Craig - Perhaps she was adopted and has no idea where she was born.
Tories could get hung up about crap like that.

Maybe she was grown in a vat. Like Ed Balls.

I put a comment on the last blog saying Mike Smithson at politicalbetting.com had a good post about you Craig. Seems it didn't register.

I fear the worst - I suspect she's from Ipswich. Not good for the Norwich crowd, not good at all.

"...a Norfolk girl through and through" rather than "a Norfolk girl born and bred".

Having some knowledge of local rivalries my guess is that she was born in (whisper it) Ipswich.

Maybe her father is Michael Jackson (or not, if you believe The Sun - surrogacy would be even worse)

Out of curiosity I just paid for a quick search of the register of births for 1982, only 8 Chloe Smiths, none born in Norfolk. Camden, Enfield, Waltham, Exeter, Portsmouth, Newham, Ashford and Cardigan - perhaps they're worried she might be Welsh?

"Chloe is a Norfolk girl - she grew up in Stoke Ferry and is a governor of her old comprehensive in Swaffham. Chloe has worked for two East Anglian MPs for a number of years."

From the 'About' section at:
http://www.tellchloe.com

theyy're just striving to cultivate an air of mystery around a bland functionary

Dear Craig

This is an easy matter to find out.

You know her age, go look her up in Birth, Deaths and Marriages!

Its free you walk and look up the register.

You are fighting a war here and information is ammo.

Get one of your FCO chums in London to do the Yago for you.

This isn't personal, its business.

If a fib has been told then the Norfolk people should be told.

Does that gem get me a copy?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

I understand she was born in Hawaii in the next bed to Obama

She was probably born in Ipswich!!!!

I must admit I've found very little evidence to support her claims of being a local girl. The tories have done a wonderful job of spamming the "local girl through and through" line at every opportunity it would seem, nearest I've found is that she claims to have been raise, as Alex T mentioned - in Stoke Ferry. For a laugh I've emailed them and asked if they could find out if she was born there (with only 900 residents it's fairly likely this information would be quick to gather). I'll let you know if I hear back from them.

That they are getting tetchy about this suggests to me that you're probably on to something. Be a crying shame if it was shown that she was lying even over something as petty as this, not to mention a legitimate concern for those doing the voting.

Alex T,
there seem to be some different opinions on her age - I take it you were going by Crick's info of her current age being 27, though even that could mean she was born in '81.

From Dales's info she could have been born in '83 or '84 (link below).

I have not done such a search and do not know how the registration information is recorded and sorted, but it may be that registration could sometimes take place in the year following birth so possibly even the first few months of '85 need to be considered.

Good luck with the search.

http://theyoungconservative.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/iain-dale-interviews-ppc-chloe-smith-25-2/

Whoops! '84 not really possible from the info given is it? Sorry.

Who does she work for and are they Conservative party donors?

From her blog

Chloe now works for a leading international firm which advises private businesses, government departments and public bodies.

Does anyone else think that her age may work against her? Thinking here about a possible backlash against those MPs who left university, became an MP's researcher and before you knew it were sitting on the comfy green leather benches :-)

Did anyone read the responses attributed to her in The Guardian?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/04/conservatives

Note her uses of the words 'really' and 'totally' in her answers.

According to UK Polling Report, she used to be a "[f]ormer aide to Gillian Shephard and Bernard Jenkin, [and is] now working in professional services."
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/norwichnorth

I think Jenkin is an MP, and Shephard stepped down in 2005. I wonder if "professional services" will turn out to be PR or lobbying?

It's not so much her age, more that she comes over as a wittering airhead with the gravitas of a plate of blancmange. Her proposals for education - "opening up the supply side" and opening up equality" - sound a particularly brain cell free zone. Surprised she didn't join New Labour really.

She works for Deloitte in the area of human capital.

You're right MJ - she would have joined NuLab if they had a chance of power in the next election. It's a case of "Do I want to be in the next government, or the one after that?". Because that's the unappetising choice voters have at the moment - the alternation of Labour/Tories with nothing to differentiate them other than trifling differences of opinion and personality.

As for her anodyne answers in The Guardian's questionnaire, I could have written that myself - it's boilerplate political gossamer. She said nothing. God help us.

Ruth says Ms Smith works for Deloittes.

Cameroon's Director of Finance and Registered Treasurer is Ian McIsaac, a former partner at Deloittes.

http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_the_Board/McIsaac_Ian.aspx

'Prior to his appointment, Ian had for many years been a partner in Deloitte. He initially specialised in Corporate Finance and Restructuring and was the Founder Chairman of the Society of Turnaround Professionals. In recent years he has held a number of senior management roles with the Deloitte global organisation.'

Thanks, Ruth.

"After doing my degree in English Literature, I knew I wanted a career in management consultancy because you can make such a difference to large organisations," she [Chloe Smith] says.
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/getting-the-best-out-of-people-508746.html

Two minutes googling reveal that there's a Chloe Smith who is the daughter of Claire and David Smith of Stoke Ferry, and that there's a David Smith in Stoke Ferry who moved there in 1985, having previously lived with his wife and children in Kent.

My guess is that Chloe Smith was born in Ashford.

Perhaps a good question to put to Ms Smith is whether she agrees with Francis Maude's assessment that spending £4 billion on management consultants is burning taxpayers' money.
http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2009/04/Maude_attacks_Labour_for_spending_4bn_on_management_consultants.aspx

"After doing my degree in English Literature, I knew I wanted a career in management consultancy because you can make such a ...."

.... big pile of dosh?

if the police know your name, date of birth, and where you were born, they can tell if you have a record.

Hi Craig,

There’s no mystery, and no one’s been getting tetchy.

I haven’t been asked by any journalists, so I’m not sure where you got that idea from, but I’ve never made any bones about my place of birth. I was born in Ashford, Kent, but moved to Norfolk at the age of three. I lived here until I went to university, and my parents and grandparents still live in Stoke Ferry. Now I’ve got a flat of my own in Norwich. My first memories are of growing up in Norfolk; when I was at school, I set up a youth forum for young people across the county; and I was campaigning for the Conservatives in Norwich before I was selected as the Parliamentary Candidate here 18 months ago. That’s why I say I’m a Norfolk girl through and through.

Best wishes,

Chloe

So that's cleared that up then. I think paul @ 11.47am deserves his free copy of The Catholic Orangemen.

So. The free copy of "The Catholic Orangemen of Togo" should go to Chloe Smith. I hope she enjoys it and finds it instructional.

It will teach her the sort of real world experience people used to aquire before becoming MPs in the days before a couple of years out of University was considered enough experience to start running the country.

@ Paul

Googling Chloe Smith's parents was good thinking, but how did you work out that she was born in Ashford? Was it its being a center for rail communication, or being the largest district in Kent?

Abe Rene:

Alex T yesterday @ 2:33 PM did the groundwork. He paid for a search of the register of births for 1982 and narrowed it down to 8 possibilities. Sterling work. Worth a copy of the book too I feel.

Lloyd George was born in Manchester, and former Welsh Nationalist leader Dafydd Wigley was born in Derby. Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister 1922-3 was born in Canada, while current Welsh Secretary Peter Hain was born in Africa. Your point is?

I think the point is transparency.

@ MJ

Yes, that's very good deduction by paul on the basis of Alex T's research. Because of the way the competition was set - the first person to know where Chloe was born - if there were only one winner I would give the prize to paul, but honorable mention to Alex T.

Do you mean transPEARancy as our Glorious Leader pronounces the most often used word in his vocabulary. I don't know why hearing him say it makes me so annoyed.

Chloe,

It wasn't you getting tetchy, just your minders.

OK, you get the prize.

So Craig says it doesn't matter where Chloe was born but then writes a whole post attempting to question her credentials on that basis. If it didn't matter to him, or if he didn't think he could get some kind of political mileage out of it, he would never have written this post.

So much for being "an honest man", Craig. You're trying to undermine your opponents whichever way you can, and it is sad that you have sunk to such depths. Many people respected you prior to this little vanity project you call an election campaign, but no more.

Denim Justice.

Yes I am. I gave away 72% of the company to Africans, of my own free will. I don't take a salary or dividend. You really are a sad little man.

Don't feed the troll, Craig. He(?) has provided no evidence to support his claim that many people no longer respect you. More people will come to admire you for taking on the party machines.

The first opinion poll for Norwich North has the Conservatives at just 34%. You must get across your past sucessful business experience to potential Tory voters because (a) that marks you out from those who merely advise and (b) reduces the risk of being seen by them as another Leftie who will want to spend more of their taxes.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2190

The Greens are already polling at 14%. Danger of a bandwagon effect here because they may pick up more disillusioned Labour voters, repeating what happened in the recent European Election. How solid is the LibDem support?

Despite Chloe's protestations that there's no mystery nor "bones" about her place of birth, there's nothing on her website about her being born in Ashford, Kent. On the contrary the piece is written in such as way as to lead a reasonable reader to infer that she was born locally.

That coupled with her minders tetchiness over the issue rather slam dunks the matter.

I'm amused that she's holding to the "Norfolk girl through and through". If it were preceded by, "Despite being born in Asford, Kent..." it might have been more honest.

I'm not sure I want any more of these careerist politicians, in any event. I think that's where this culture of spinning everything comes from. They've done enough damage already.

It's about time we had some plain straight honest speakers for a change.

Just posted about this issue on Iain Dale's blog, chiding him about being scooped by Craig even though Ian has a local interest himself.

The post went onto the blog but I see he's now removed it.

Obviously the sanctimoniously cloying one doesn't like too much truth, for all his protestations to decency.

Anyway I've got a discussion going on it on Guido's blog so it'll get a bit more coverage.

I'd just like to say to Iain, you are one very sad man.

Thanks MJ and Abe Rene. Craig promised the prize to whomever "knows" where Chloe Smith was born, so Chloe herself is the rightful winner.

A cynic might suspect that Chloe's newfound openness on the issue not to be entirely unrelated to having already been rumbled. An ardent proponent of political plaindealing might think it proper for Craig not to adopt a strict interpretation of the rules of his own competition. A reader who cherishes discretion might think these speculations overdone.