Andrew Lansley

The Right Honourable Andrew Lansley CBE MP
Secretary of State for Health
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Andy Burnham
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
In office 19 June 2004 – 11 May 2010
Leader	Michael Howard David Cameron
Preceded by	Tim Yeo
Succeeded by	Andy Burnham
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
In office 15 June 1999 – 18 September 2001
Leader	William Hague
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Tim Collins
Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Constituency created
Majority	7,838 (13.3%)
Personal details
Born	11 December 1956 (1956-12-11) Hornchurch, Essex, England
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	University of Exeter
Religion	Church of England
Website	andrewlansley.co.uk
Nickname(s)	Angela Lansbury

Andrew David Lansley, CBE, MP (born 11 December 1956) is the UK Secretary of State for Health, who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridgeshire since the 1997 general election, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Health from June 2004 until becoming Secretary of State for Health in May 2010. Lansley's Health and Social Care Bill 2011 is one of the most controversial plans of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, resulting in strong opposition from both the Royal College of Nursing and British Medical Association.

Early life

Born in Hornchurch, Essex, Lansley was educated at Brentwood School and the University of Exeter, gaining a BA in politics. His father, Thomas, worked in a pathology laboratory and was co-founder of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine and chair of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Scientists.

Before entering politics, Lansley had "a promising career in the civil service". Lansley worked for Norman Tebbit for three years as his principal private secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry. This encompassed the period of the IRA's 1984 Brighton hotel bombing at the Conservative Party Conference in which Tebbit was seriously injured. Lansley and others are praised by Tebbit for their support at that time.

Lansley went on to become more fully involved in politics. In 1990 was appointed to run the Conservative Research Department. He ran the Conservative campaign for the 1992 General Election, which he describes as one of "his proudest career achievements" and for which he was awarded a CBE. He suffered a minor stroke in 1992, initially misdiagnosed as an ear infection, but made a full recovery save from permanently losing his sense of "fine balance".

Member of Parliament

Lansley sought to enter parliament and was selected for the South Cambridgeshire seat where he was subsequently elected as an MP in 1997. He immediately joined the House of Commons health select committee.

At the 2001 election he again took on a strategy role as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. As part of his duties Shadow Ministers had to clear the timing of their announcements with Lansley. He fitted them into a timetable known as the 'Stalingrid'. The 2001 election was not a success for the Conservative Party and party leader, William Hague, resigned in its wake. Iain Duncan Smith, the new leader, offered Lansley a position after the election but was turned down and, until Michael Howard became leader, Lansley was a backbencher.

He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.

Shadow Cabinet

After Howard's election as party leader, Lansley soon returned to the Conservative frontbench. He served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Health. In his post he developed policies centred on using choice to improve the National Health Service, and was author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS.

Secretary of State for Health

After becoming Prime Minister in May 2010, David Cameron named Lansley as Health Secretary in the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Proposed reform

Main article: Health and Social Care Bill 2011

In January 2011 Ministers published the Health and Social Care Bill, detailing planned reforms that will pave the way for GP consortia to take over management of the NHS from Primary Care Trusts. Prime minister David Cameron said "fundamental changes" are needed in the NHS. But doctors' leaders believe that GPs could simply have taken charge of PCTs instead—and achieved the same results. The reforms will pave the way for groups of GPs to take control of the NHS budget. The consortia will take charge of about 80% of the funding, and will be in charge of planning and buying everything from community health centres to hospital services. However, some specialist services such as neurosurgery will be provided by the national board. The consortia will take charge from 2013, although pilots are beginning to start.

In a letter to The Times, BMA chairman Hamish Meldrum, Royal College of Nursing chief executive Peter Carter and the heads of Unison, Unite and others said the speed and scale of the reforms proposed risked undermining the care of patients by putting cost before quality. Criticism of the reform had been mounting ahead of the publication of the Health and Social Care Bill on 19 January 2011.

Lansley’s white paper on the NHS has led to him being the subject of an unflattering hip hop track and video written by rapper NxtGen and poet Rob Gee with the chorus "Andrew Lansley, greedy / Andrew Lansley, tosser / the NHS is not for sale, you grey-haired manky codger," which has now been viewed over 400,000 times on YouTube and which was picked up as one of the theme tunes to the anti cuts movement and spawned several placards at the March for the Alternative in March 2011. The video, partly paid for by Unison features NxtGen rapping about Lansley's proposed GP commissioning policy, his relation to the expenses scandal and the controversial donation he received from private health company Care UK. Lansley has responded with the statement he was "impressed that he's managed to get lyrics about GP commissioning into a rap", but "We will never privatise the NHS".

Following the widespread criticism, on 4 April 2011, the Government announced a "pause" in the progress of the Health and Social Care Bill to allow the government to 'listen, reflect and improve' the proposals.

On 13 April 2011, 96% of 497 delegates at the Royal College of Nursing conference backed a motion of no confidence questioning Andrew Lansley's handling of NHS reforms in England. Later that day, Lansley met with 65 nurses at the same conference, and apologized by saying "I am sorry if what I'm setting out to do hasn't communicated itself."

Controversies

A poster critical of Lansley being carried amidst the 2011 anti-cuts protest in London.

Conflict of interest

While in opposition as health spokesman, Andrew Lansley accepted a donation of £21,000 from John Nash, the chairman of private healthcare provider Care UK and founder of the private equity fund Sovereign Capital, which owns several other private healthcare companies, to help fund his private office, leading to allegations of a conflict of interest. Such companies stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of Conservative policies to increase the use of private health providers within the NHS.

Andrew Lansley's wife, Sally Low, is the managing director of Low Associates. Sally Low denies that Low Associates is involved in lobbying, preferring to describe its activities as providing "strategic advice" to clients. Low Associates helps people prepare before they give evidence to committees of MPs, and Sally Low has given speeches on improving lobbying skills, in which she said that lobbyists should “establish positive relationships with decision-makers before you need their help”. Clients of Low Associates personnel in their previous careers have included the pharmaceutical companies SmithKline Beecham, Unilever and Procter & Gamble .

Recession

Andrew Lansley wrote a blog entry on the Conservative Party website on 25 November 2008, which claimed the "good things" from a recession included people being able to spend more time with their families. He was later forced to apologise.

Parliamentary expenses

In the Parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009, Lansley was accused of 'flipping', or redesignating, his second home, after claiming for renovation of a rural cottage prior to selling it. It is claimed that he then 'flipped' his second home designation to a London flat, and claimed thousands of pounds for furniture. Lansley responded to the claims by stating that his claims were "within the rules".

Health Video Message

Andrew Lansley faced criticism recently when he appeared on a video played at NHS patients bedside in England, the continuous loop video was played to patients on the Hospedia system. Mr Lansley confirmed he received no payment and there was no cost to the taxpayer when asked by Tom Blenkinsop

Health policy

Lansley has also courted controversy by putting fast food companies such as McDonald's, KFC and processed food and drink manufacturers such as PepsiCo, Kellogg's, Unilever, Mars and Diageo at the heart of writing government policy on obesity, alcohol and diet-related disease, said by campaign groups to be the equivalent of handing smoking policy over to the tobacco industry.

On 20 February 2012, Lansley was heckled by a British pensioner.

In popular culture

"Andrew Lansley Rap" by MC Nxt Gen and Rob Gee has garnered nearly a half million views since its publication. It was written as a response to government plans to give GPs more control over England's health budget.

Personal life

Lansley's wealth is estimated at £700,000.

In 1997 Lansley left his first wife, Dr Marilyn Biggs, with whom he had three children. He has two children with his second wife Sally Low. He is a member of the Church of England.

Interests

At a business conference Lansley's wife advised attendees to “establish positive relationships with decision-makers". Although staff members of Low Associates, the PR firm she runs, had food and drug companies among their clients before joining Low Associates, the firm denies it has any clients in the health sector.

Food advertisers

Until December 2009, Lansley received £134 an hour from a firm of advertisers that represents clients such as Walkers Crisps, McDonalds, Unilever, Mars and Pizza Hut; Private Eye suggests a link between these activities and Lansley's desire to see a more lightly regulated food industry. The same publication suggested a similar link to a Department of Health report on red meat in which the only products listed in the report found to contain suitable amounts of red meat to merit a "Good" rating were a McDonald's Big Mac, and a Peperami (manufactured by Unilever).

External links

• Andrew Lansley CBE MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Conservative Party
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Andrew Lansley collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• The Future of the NHS

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire 1997 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Tim Yeo	Shadow Secretary of State for Health 2004–2010	Succeeded by Andy Burnham
Preceded by Andy Burnham	Secretary of State for Health 2010–present	Incumbent
Order of precedence in England and Wales
Preceded by Chris Huhne as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change	Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Health	Succeeded by Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education
Order of precedence in Northern Ireland
Preceded by Chris Huhne as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change	Gentlemen as Secretary of State for Health	Succeeded by Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education