That was more than a decade ago and Ritchie, the new chair of the children and young people board at the Local Government Association (LGA), has never looked back.
"When I started being involved with social services I just found it fascinating. I found that I was the round peg in the round hole," she explains.
Ritchie, who happens to be stepmother of film director Guy Ritchie - and therefore Madonna's former stepmother-in-law - has been lead member for children's services in the Conservative-run Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for five years. Before that she was lead member for social care.
"I feel passionately about what we can do for all our children and families, but, in particular, for the most vulnerable," she says.
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