# Vicky Pryce
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{{Short description|British economist (born 1952)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Vicky Pryce at Policy Exchange's Future of the City conference.jpg
| caption = Pryce in 2014
| name = Vicky Pryce
| birth_name = Vasiliki Kourmouzi
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|7|15|df=y}}[[https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/civil-service-msjf82xgj6p Civil Service, High Flyers, January 2005]]
| birth_place = Athens, Greece
| occupation = [Economist](/source/Economist)
| alma_mater = [London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics)
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Gareth Pryce
|1972|1981|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[Chris Huhne](/source/Chris_Huhne)
|1984|January 2011|end=div}}
}}
| partner = [Denis MacShane](/source/Denis_MacShane) (2012–present)
| children = 5
}}
'''Vasiliki''' "'''Vicky'''" '''Pryce''' (''{{nee}}'' '''Kourmouzi''' ({{langx|el|Βασιλική Κουρμούζη}}); born 15 July 1952)[{{cite web |title=Vicky PRYCE |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/UHmQD_ZwjdGCIat4xIK1EMdLMFc/appointments |publisher=[Companies House](/source/Companies_House) |access-date=13 January 2018}}][{{cite news |title=Vicky Pryce: the woman behind Chris Huhne's downfall |last1=Rayner |first1=Gordon |last2=Prince |first2=Rosa |newspaper=[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph) |date=16 May 2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/8515434/Vicky-Pryce-the-woman-behind-Chris-Huhnes-downfall.html}}] is a Greek-born British [economist](/source/economist) and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's [Government Economic Service](/source/Government_Economic_Service).[{{cite web |url=http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/management-board/vicky-pryce |title=About BIS, Management Board |work=Vicky Pryce biography |publisher=Department for Business Innovation and Skills |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-date=20 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620020943/http://www.bis.gov.uk/about/management-board/vicky-pryce |url-status=dead }}]
She is the Chief Economic Adviser at the [Centre for Economics and Business Research](/source/Centre_for_Economics_and_Business_Research), in London, where she is also a board member.[{{Cite web|title=Meet the Team {{!}} Centre for Economics and Business Research|url=https://cebr.com/about-cebr/our-team/|access-date=2021-12-14|website=CEBR|date=12 November 2020 }}] In 2023, Pryce joined the [British Chambers of Commerce](/source/British_Chambers_of_Commerce)'s newly-launched Economic Advisory Council as a senior member.[{{Cite web |title=Economic Council To Power Up Growth |url=https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2023/05/economic-council-to-power-up-growth |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=www.britishchambers.org.uk |date=28 May 2023 |language=en}}] She is a visiting professor at [Birmingham City University](/source/Birmingham_City_University)[{{Cite web|title=Vicky Pryce {{!}} Bite-Sized|url=https://bite-sizedbooks.com/vicky-pryce-3/|access-date=2021-12-14|language=en-GB}}] and [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London).[{{Cite news|date=2021-10-04|title=Should we worry about stagflation?|language=en-US|work=Centre for Brexit Studies Blog|url=https://centreforbrexitstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/04/should-we-worry-about-stagflation/|access-date=2021-12-14}}]
On 7 March 2013, she and her former husband, [Chris Huhne](/source/Chris_Huhne), were convicted of [perverting the course of justice](/source/perverting_the_course_of_justice) and sentenced to eight months in prison, when she was convicted after trial and Huhne pleaded guilty. They each served nine weeks in prison.[{{cite news |last=Mason |first=Rowena |date=14 October 2013 |title=Vicky Pryce says she has no regrets about being jailed over speeding points |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/14/vicky-pryce-no-regrets-jailed |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|access-date=11 October 2017}}]
==Early life==
Pryce was born in [Athens](/source/Athens), the middle of three children, described as being "out on the town" at the age of 11, coming home at all hours and later riding a motorbike. She moved to [London](/source/London) at the age of 17.[{{cite news |last=Durrant |first=Sabine |date=1 October 2011 |title=Vicky Pryce: 'I thought we were a unit' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/oct/01/vicky-pryce-interview |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=31 July 2013}}] She studied at the [LSE](/source/London_School_of_Economics), gaining a [BSc](/source/Bachelor_of_Science) in economics and an [MSc](/source/Master_of_Science) in [monetary economics](/source/monetary_economics).[{{cite web| url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2009/06/Honours.aspx| title=LSE congratulates alumni named in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours |publisher=[London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics) | access-date=31 July 2013}}][{{cite web| url=http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/personnel/photos/index_html?key=5394| title=Vicky Pryce Policy Fellow| access-date=31 July 2013}}]
==Career==
After university she had, according to [Ned Temko](/source/Ned_Temko), a "glittering career"[{{cite news |last=Temko |first=Ned |author-link=Ned Temko |date=12 February 2006 |title=The woman who backs Chris Huhne |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/feb/12/liberaldemocrats.observerpolitics |newspaper=[The Observer](/source/The_Observer) |access-date=26 June 2010}}] as an economist and then chief economist at [Williams & Glyn's Bank](/source/Williams_%26_Glyn's_Bank) (now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland) from 1973 to 1983; as corporate economist for [Exxon Europe](/source/Esso) from 1983 to 1986;[{{Cite web|url=http://www.omfif.org/about/advisory-board/economics-industry/vicky-pryce/|title=About Vicky Pryce|publisher=OMFIF|access-date=17 April 2015|archive-date=17 April 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150417181505/http://www.omfif.org/about/advisory-board/economics-industry/vicky-pryce/|url-status=dead}}] In 2023, Pryce became a senior member of the [British Chambers of Commerce](/source/British_Chambers_of_Commerce)'s newly-launched Economic Advisory Council.[{{Cite web|title=Meet the team|url=https://workingchance.org/about-us/our-team/|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Working Chance|archive-date=14 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214173535/https://workingchance.org/about-us/our-team/|url-status=dead}}] She is a trustee for Women in Prison[{{Cite web|title=A 'multitude of ideas' from economist turned penal reformer – insidetime & insideinformation|date=19 October 2020 |url=https://insidetime.org/a-multitude-of-ideas-from-economist-turned-penal-reformer/|access-date=2021-12-14|language=en-GB}}] and is a Freeman and Liveryman of the City of London.[{{Cite web|last=ThemeFuse|title=Vicky Pryce|url=http://tma-agency.com/client/vicky-pryce/|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Toby Mundy Associates|language=en}}]
===Department of Trade and Industry ===
Pryce joined the [Department for Trade and Industry](/source/Department_of_Trade_and_Industry_(United_Kingdom)) in August 2002 as Chief Economic Adviser, the first woman to be appointed to the post, for which the salary was about £110,000.[{{cite web |url=http://archive.bis.gov.uk/newsarchive/nds/clientmicrosite/content/Detail.aspx-ClientId=431&NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=412934&SubjectId=36.html |title=Vicky Pryce CB |date=1 April 2010 |work=Press Release |publisher=Department for Business Innovation and Skills |access-date=27 June 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}] She was also Chairwoman of the GoodCorporation, an organisation promoting ethical business practices.
Pryce was Deputy Head of the UK Government Economic Service from 2004 to 2007, and Joint Head from 2007 to 2010. She was appointed a [Companion of the Order of the Bath](/source/Order_of_the_Bath) (CB) in the [2009 Birthday Honours](/source/2009_Birthday_Honours) but this was cancelled and annulled on 30 July 2013 following her release from prison.[{{London Gazette |issue=59090 |date=13 June 2009 |page=2 |supp=y}}][{{London Gazette |issue=60583 |page=14994 |date=30 July 2013}}][{{cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1122269/vicky-pryce-is-stripped-of-queens-honour|publisher=[Sky News](/source/Sky_News)|title=Vicky Pryce stripped of Queen's honour|access-date=23 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041920/http://news.sky.com/story/1122269/vicky-pryce-is-stripped-of-queens-honour|archive-date=2016-03-04}}]
In April 2010, it was announced that she would be leaving the [Department for Business, Innovation and Skills](/source/Department_for_Business%2C_Innovation_and_Skills) where she was Director General, Economics, and Joint Head of the Government Economic Service, to become senior managing director at the finance consultancy firm [FTI Consulting](/source/FTI_Consulting).[{{Cite web|title=Press release: Vicky Pryce to Join FTI Consulting as Senior Managing Director|url=http://ir.fticonsulting.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=82634&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1420987|publisher=FTI Consulting|location=London|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150124185022/http://ir.fticonsulting.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=82634&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1420987|archive-date=24 January 2015|access-date=23 January 2015|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}]
===Academia===
She was a visiting professor at [City University](/source/City_University_London)'s [Cass Business School](/source/Cass_Business_School) from 2002 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2011, and at [Imperial College Business School](/source/Imperial_College_Business_School) since 2010; a visiting Fellow at [Nuffield College, Oxford](/source/Nuffield_College%2C_Oxford), since 2008; a Fellow of the [Society of Business Economists](/source/Society_of_Business_Economists) since 2005; and the council of the Royal Society for the Arts from 2008 to 2009.[{{cite web |url=http://www.wcomc.org/Profiles/VickyPryce.html |title=The Worshipful Company of Management Consultants |publisher=Wcomc.org |access-date=2012-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228180439/http://www.wcomc.org/Profiles/VickyPryce.html |archive-date=2012-02-28 |url-status=dead }}]
As of 2021, Pryce is a visiting professor at Birmingham City University[{{Cite web|title=Vicky Pryce|url=https://nla.london/contributors/vicky-pryce|access-date=2021-12-14|website=New London Architecture|language=en}}] a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists,[{{Cite web|title=Graduation 2018: Honorary Senior Fellows|url=https://www.regents.ac.uk/news/graduation-2018-honorary-senior-fellows|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Regent's University London|language=en}}] and a fellow of the RADIX centre for Business, Politics and Society.[{{Cite web|title=Vicky Pryce|url=https://radixuk.org/fellows/vicky-pryce/|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Radix Think Tank|language=en-GB}}]
== Books ==
=== ''How to be a Successful Economist'' ===
This title, released in late 2022, is a guide for students working towards successful careers in economics.[{{Cite web |title=How to be a Successful Economist - Paperback - Vicky Pryce, Andy Ross, Alvin Birdi, Ian Harwood - Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/how-to-be-a-successful-economist-9780198869047 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=global.oup.com |language=en}}] The authors, Vicky Pryce, Andy Ross, Alvin Birdi and Ian Harwood, walk readers through the interview process for graduate positions and the attributes that employers are looking for. Video interviews are also available with the purchase of the book.
Dr Matthew Aldrich, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of East Anglia, described the book as "original" and said "there is no comparable text I know of and the pragmatic issues are covered extremely well".[{{Cite web |title=How to be a Successful Economist - Paperback - Vicky Pryce, Andy Ross, Alvin Birdi, Ian Harwood - Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/how-to-be-a-successful-economist-9780198869047 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=global.oup.com |language=en}}] Jarkko Immonen, a careers counsellor at the University of Helsinki, called it a "comprehensive hands-on look at the world of work from an economist's point of view with an emphasis on opportunities and societal relevance".[{{Cite web |title=How to be a Successful Economist - Paperback - Vicky Pryce, Andy Ross, Alvin Birdi, Ian Harwood - Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/how-to-be-a-successful-economist-9780198869047 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=global.oup.com |language=en}}] The book was published by Oxford University Press.[{{Cite web |title=How to be a Successful Economist - Paperback - Vicky Pryce, Andy Ross, Alvin Birdi, Ian Harwood - Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/how-to-be-a-successful-economist-9780198869047 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=global.oup.com |language=en}}]
=== Women Vs Capitalism ===
Subtitled "why we can't have it all in a free market economy", Women Vs Capitalism is an urgent call to reform capitalism so that it "stops failing women".[{{Cite web|title=Women vs Capitalism {{!}} Hurst Publishers|url=https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/women-vs-capitalism/|access-date=2021-10-20|website=HURST|language=en-GB}}]
[Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves](/source/Rachel_Reeves) wrote in [The Observer](/source/The_Observer) that the 2019 book was "fantastic" and "shines a much-needed light on discrimination".[{{Cite web|date=2019-11-04|title=Women vs Capitalism by Vicky Pryce review – insightful analysis|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/04/women-vs-capitalism-why-we-cant-have-it-all-vicky-pryce-review|access-date=2021-10-20|website=The Guardian|language=en}}] In [The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian), [Polly Toynbee](/source/Polly_Toynbee) said it was a "long overdue dissection of the vital subject of gender equality through Vicky Pryce's forensic economic lens".[{{Cite web|title=It's the Economy, Stupid|url=https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/it-s-the-economy-stupid|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.bitebackpublishing.com|language=en}}]
It was published by [Biteback Publishing](/source/Biteback_Publishing) and was written with Andy Ross and Peter Urwin.[{{Cite web|title=Why Women Need Quotas|url=https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/why-women-need-quotas|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.bitebackpublishing.com|language=en}}]
=== Redesigning Manufacturing ===
Co-authored with Michael Beverland and Beverley Nielsen, this 2015 book suggests that UK manufacturing has an "image problem". It redresses the situation, which it suggests is more fiction than fact, by focusing on the real successes of the sector and the strategies used by makers to achieve sustainable results.[{{Cite book|last1=Beverland|first1=M.|url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137465214|title=Redesigning Manufacturing: Reimagining the Business of Making in the UK|last2=Nielsen|first2=B.|last3=Pryce|first3=V.|last4=Hellmann|first4=Ellen|date=2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-46521-4|language=en}}]
=== Prisonomics ===
Pryce published a book based on her experience at [HM Prison East Sutton Park](/source/HM_Prison_East_Sutton_Park) in October 2013. The book, ''Prisonomics: Behind Bars in Britain's Failing Prisons'', makes claims about the economic and human costs of imprisoning women, with especial reference to herself. Previous convicts have done the same thing, notably [Horatio Bottomley](/source/Horatio_Bottomley).[{{cite news|last=Grice|first=Andrew|date=13 May 2013|title=Nine weeks is a long time in politics: Vicky Pryce and Chris Huhne released from prison but what does the future hold for them?|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nine-weeks-is-a-long-time-in-politics-vicky-pryce-and-chris-huhne-released-from-prison-but-what-does-8612974.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nine-weeks-is-a-long-time-in-politics-vicky-pryce-and-chris-huhne-released-from-prison-but-what-does-8612974.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}][{{cite news|last=Aitken|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Aitken|date=28 October 2013|title=Prisonomics by Vicky Pryce – review|newspaper=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/28/prisonomics-by-vicky-pryce-review|access-date=13 January 2018}}] [Royalties](/source/Royalties) were donated to the charity Working Chance to help former women prisoners find work.[{{cite book|last=Pryce|first=Vicky|title=Prisonomics: Behind bars in Britain's failing prisons|date=14 October 2013|publisher=[Biteback Publishing](/source/Biteback_Publishing)|isbn=978-1849546225}}][{{EW charity|1131802|Working Chance Ltd}}]
===Greekonomics===
In October 2012, [Biteback Publishing](/source/Biteback_Publishing) released ''Greekonomics'', a discussion of the crises in the [eurozone](/source/eurozone), with the focus on the country of her birth. Intended for a broad, not merely an academic, readership, the book discusses what Greek exit from the eurozone might mean.[{{cite web|url=http://www.vickypryce.com |publisher=Vicky Pryce |title=Vicky Pryce website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218121918/http://vickypryce.com/ |archive-date=18 December 2014 |url-status=dead }}]
It was shortlisted for Spear's best business book of the year award in 2013.[{{Cite web|date=2013-09-25|title=Vicky Pryce pipped at the post for book award|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/vicky-pryce-pipped-at-the-post-for-book-award-8838999.html|access-date=2021-10-20|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}]
In early July 2013 Vicky Pryce appeared as an expert witness before the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords) cross-party subcommittee on economic and financial affairs, saying she saw no quick end to the [eurozone crisis](/source/eurozone_crisis) since structural reform would take a long time. Pryce favoured [fiscal policy](/source/fiscal_policy) that included a stimulus package and wanted the [European Central Bank](/source/European_Central_Bank) to buy bonds.[{{cite news |last=Syal |first=Rajeev |date=2 July 2013 |title=Vicky Pryce returns to public eye with House of Lords committee appearance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/jul/02/vicky-pryce-public-committee-appearance |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=13 January 2018}}]
==Conviction ==
{{Main|R v Huhne}}
Pryce was interviewed twice by [Essex Police](/source/Essex_Police) in 2011 over allegations that, in 2003, she had accepted driving licence penalty points actually incurred by her then husband, [Chris Huhne](/source/Chris_Huhne) (then an MEP). She falsely claimed that she was driving the car, and accepted the licence penalty points on his behalf so that he could avoid being banned from driving.
In 2012 it was announced that both would be charged with perverting the course of justice.[{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14252924 |title=Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce in second police interviews |publisher=BBC News |date=22 July 2011 |access-date=4 February 2012}}] Pryce entered a plea of not guilty, unsuccessfully advancing a defence of [marital coercion](/source/marital_coercion) at trial. In March 2013, she was convicted of perverting the course of justice and was sentenced to eight months in prison, the same as Huhne who had pleaded guilty. Pryce served her sentence at [HM Prison Holloway](/source/HM_Prison_Holloway).[{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21496566 |title=Vicky Pryce guilty over Chris Huhne speeding points |publisher=BBC News |date=7 March 2013 |access-date=7 March 2013}}][{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21737627 |title=Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce jailed for eight months |publisher=BBC News |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=11 March 2013}}]
Pryce and Huhne left prison on licence on 13 May 2013, subject to [electronic tagging](/source/electronic_tagging).[{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nine-weeks-is-a-long-time-in-politics-vicky-pryce-and-chris-huhne-released-from-prison-but-what-does-the-future-hold-for-them-8612974.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nine-weeks-is-a-long-time-in-politics-vicky-pryce-and-chris-huhne-released-from-prison-but-what-does-the-future-hold-for-them-8612974.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title= Nine weeks is a long time in politics: Vicky Pryce and Chris Huhne released from prison but what does the future hold for them? |newspaper=The Independent |date=13 May 2013 |author=Grice, Andrew |location= London}}]
==Personal life==
In 1972 she married Gareth Pryce, an LSE post-graduate student, whom she divorced in 1981, having had two daughters with him.[ In 1984, she married [Chris Huhne](/source/Chris_Huhne), who later became an [MEP](/source/Member_of_the_European_Parliament) and then the [Liberal Democrat](/source/Liberal_Democrats_(UK)) MP for [Eastleigh](/source/Eastleigh_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) and [Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change](/source/Secretary_of_State_for_Energy_and_Climate_Change). They had three children.][{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4603240.stm|title=Profile: Chris Huhne|date=2 March 2006|publisher=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)|access-date=27 June 2010}}] They divorced in January 2011.[{{cite news |url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8229228.MP_Chris_Huhne_leaves_wife_for_another_woman/ |title=Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne splits from wife Vicky Pryce |newspaper=[Southern Daily Echo](/source/Southern_Daily_Echo) |location=[Southampton](/source/Southampton) |date=19 June 2010 |access-date=4 February 2012}}][{{cite news |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16649877 |title=Sunday Times drops Chris Huhne emails legal challenge |date=20 January 2012}}] She is now involved with former MP [Denis MacShane](/source/Denis_MacShane), who had also served time in prison, in his case for having made false expenses claims.[{{Cite web |date=2012-11-05 |title=Beating a Swiss retreat |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/beating-a-swiss-retreat-8282385.html |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=The Standard |language=en}}][{{Cite web |last=Frith |first=Maxine |date=2013-02-05 |title=That ol' MacShane magic |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/that-ol-macshane-magic-8293826.html |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=The Standard |language=en}}]
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{{succession box |
before=[Sir Nicholas Stern](/source/Nicholas_Stern%2C_Baron_Stern_of_Brentford) |
title=Head of the [Government Economic Service](/source/Government_Economic_Service)
'' ''' with [Dave Ramsden](/source/Dave_Ramsden)''' '' |
years=2007-2010