Toby Vintcent

Vintcent was a pupil at the Aylesbury Grammar School between 1975 and 1980.^[2] He subsequently joined the British Army and served as a commissioned officer with the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers during the Cold War for three years. He left the army to work in finance for a division of S.G. Warburg & Co. which became Mercury Asset Management and subsequently Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.^[3] He retired from this role at the age of 42.^[2]

Vintcent was chairman of the Hammersmith Conservative Association in 1994.^[4] He was the Conservative Party chairman for the Greater London Area by 1999.^[2][5] Vintcent worked on Jeffrey Archer's failed campaign to become Mayor of London in 1999, he was described as 'an old and loyal friend' of Lord Archer.^[6]

Vintcent volunteered to lead the logistics and administration for Sir Malcolm Rifkind's candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2005, Rifkind withdrew before polling commenced.^[7][8] He stood unsuccessfully to be the vice-president of the Conservative Party Board in 2006, receiving endorsements from Rifkind, Anne Milton, Michael Ancram, Daniel Kawczynski, Richard Benyon and others; many noted his role in founding the Conservative Party's General Election Voluntary Agency and 64-seat call centre (GENEVA).^[9][10]

Vintcent promoted a Brexit Party leaflet campaign, advocating a no deal Brexit, during the 2019 European Parliament elections.^[11] He was listed on the party's main website as the Promoter ahead of the 2019 United Kingdom general election.^[7]

Vintcent was part of the Brexit Party's interviewing process for parliamentary candidates in 2019, which was criticised by one unsuccessful applicant as a "money-making scheme".^[12]

His debut novel Driven, published in 2014, is a thriller set in the world of Formula One which was critically acclaimed in the F1 and mainstream press and shortlisted for the Cross British Sports Book Awards in 2015.^[3][13][14] His second novel, Crash, was published in July 2016 and reviewed by the International New York Times who described it as "Reminiscent of the best Robert Ludlum-like thrillers".^[14] The Ringmaster, his third Formula 1 thriller, was published in July 2018 and was shortlisted for the Telegraph British Sports Book Awards in the General Outstanding Sports Writing of the Year Category.^[15]

He rode for Great Britain as a junior in the late 1970s, competing in Three-Day Eventing.^[2] He continued to be involved in equestrian sport as a team manager for youth teams and attended the Sydney Olympic Games 2000 as the Deputy Team Manager of the British Equestrian Contingent.^[2] Vintcent was a director of the British Equestrian Federation, working on the preparation of Team GBs equestrian team until November 2011.^[16] He is the director of Horseworld Ltd., an equestrian broadcasting and events company; he won a legal action at the Royal Courts of Justice in 2012 against an employee who had used inside information to poach broadcast rights for her own company.^[17]

Vintcent lives in Oxfordshire and is married to Anne-Marie Taylor, the former international Three-Day Event rider. They have a son.^[18]