Profile of Chloe Smith - Cameron's youngest minister

Chloe Smith has spent just two short years as David Cameron's youngest minister after stepping down from her Cabinet Office post ahead of an expected reshuffle.

Ms Smith was propelled into the political limelight rather suddenly when a by-election was called in Norwich North sparked by the shock resignation in 2009 of the sitting Labour MP Ian Gibson who had become entangled in the MPs' expenses scandal.

At the time Norwich North was the safest Labour seat in East Anglia with Labour sitting on a majority of 5,459. But after a short but high-profile by-election campaign which saw the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron visit Norwich on several occasions, Chloe Smith won the seat for the Conservatives with her own majority of 7,348.

Although her majority was cut at the subsequent General Election less than a year later, Ms Smith comfortably retained the constituency which had been re-drawn by boundary changes.

Chloe Smith was quick to rise through the Parliamentary ranks. She served on the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee before joining the influential Public Accounts Committee.

She took up the first rung on the Government ladder when she was appointed as Assistant Whip in 2010 and gained her first ministerial position a year later when the Prime Minister made her Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

She was moved to the Cabinet Office in 2012 where she was the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform.

Chloe Smith was born in Kent but grew up in Norfolk. After university she worked for international consultancy firm Deloitte advising businesses, government departments and public bodies.

She worked for the former South West Norfolk MP Gillian (now Baroness) Shephard and the current Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin.

As Economic Secretary to the Treasury she once suffered a humiliating verbal mauling at the hands of BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman over a fuel duty freeze.

The interview led to Chancellor George Osborne being branded an ''arrogant coward'' by after sending her into the TV studios to defend his decision to delay the 3p hike in fuel duty.

In her resignation letter to the Prime Minister she said she now wanted " to be able to spend more time serving my constituents".