[4] His father, Norman Vickers of 140 Heneage Road in Grimsby, died, aged 71, in May 1988, having worked for 42 years with British United Trawlers, and served in World War II in the Army.

[14] On 24 October 2011, Vickers was one of 81 Conservative MPs to rebel against the Cameron government to vote for a national referendum on the European Union.

[18] In the same year, Vickers was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.

[18] Despite his social conservative views on gay rights and abortions, Vickers has maintained he opposes the reintroduction of the death penalty.

[23][better source needed] As of 31 July 2019, Vickers is the vice chair of the APPGs for Albania, Azerbaijan, Central America, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Isle of Man, East Coast Main Line, Economic Development, Fair Fuel for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers, Fisheries, Football, Rail in the North, Transport Across the North, and Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.

[24] Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Vickers was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph in November 2020 from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative MPs.

The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".