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Norman Lamb

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For the US politician, see Norman Lamb (U.S. politician).

The Right Honourable
Norman Lamb
MP
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 May 2015
LeaderNick Clegg
Tim Farron
Preceded byDanny Alexander (Chief Secretary to the Treasury)
Ian Swales (Party Treasury Spokesman)
Minister of State for Care and Support
In office
4 September 2012 – 8 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byPaul Burstow
Succeeded byAlistair Burt
Minister of State for Employment Relations
In office
3 February 2012 – 4 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byEd Davey
Succeeded byJo Swinson
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister
In office
12 May 2010 – 3 February 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byPaul Clark (2007)
Succeeded byJo Swinson
Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson
In office
18 December 2006 – 12 May 2010
LeaderMenzies Campbell
Vince Cable (Acting)
Nick Clegg
Preceded bySteve Webb
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of Parliament
for Norfolk North
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded byDavid Prior
Majority4,043 (8.2%)
Personal details
Born
Norman Peter Lamb

(1957-09-16) 16 September 1957 (age 67)
Watford, England
Political partyLabour (Before 1981)
Social Democratic Party (1981–1988)
Liberal Democrats (1988–present)
SpouseMary Lamb
Children2 sons
Alma materUniversity of Leicester
WebsiteOfficial website

Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and solicitor. He has been the Member of Parliament for North Norfolk since 2001.

Lamb was a candidate in the 2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election and is currently the party's health spokesman. He served most recently as Minister of State for Care and Support in the Department of Health, and previously as Minister of State for Employment Relations in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and earlier as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government.

Early life

Lamb was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, the son of climatologist Professor Hubert Lamb and the great-grandson of the mathematician Sir Horace Lamb. He went to Wymondham College in Norfolk, then the University of Leicester, getting an LLB.

Employment lawyer

After graduating from the University of Leicester, Lamb worked as a solicitor. He began to specialise in employment law whilst working for Steele and Co Solicitors (now called Steeles Law). In 1998 he wrote a book, Remedies in the Employment Tribunal: Damages for Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal, but any chances of a follow up or update to this book were put aside when Lamb was elected to Parliament in June 2001.

Political career

Lamb worked for a year as a researcher for Labour MP Greville Janner in the early 1980s.[1] A meeting with Shirley Williams in Parliament at this time, shortly after the formation in 1981 of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, spurred Lamb into front line active politics and he was elected to Norwich City Council where he led the Lib Dem group until he stood down in 1991 in order to pursue his Westminster ambitions.[2]

Parliamentary career

Having first stood for election in North Norfolk in 1992, when he dented the Conservative majority, he came close to a major shock in the 1997 general election when he reduced a Conservative majority of more than 10,000 to only 1,293 votes. He was finally elected in 2001, at the third attempt, narrowly defeating the incumbent Conservative MP David Prior by 483 votes. He was re-elected in 2005 with a massively increased majority of 10,606, despite an effort by the Conservatives and their candidate Iain Dale to unseat him in what had been one of their top target seats. He was re-elected for a second time in 2010 with a majority of 11,626.

Norman Lamb's first appointment after being elected was as a Lib Dem spokesman on International Development. Soon after this, he was picked out by then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy to act as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. After the 2005 general election, he was promoted and appointed Liberal Democrat Trade spokesman (2005–2006), securing the endorsement of the Liberal Democrat Spring 2006 Conference for a policy to part-privatise the Royal Mail, and to use the proceeds to invest in a publicly owned Post Office network. In March 2006, he moved to the post of Chief of Staff to the newly elected leader, Sir Menzies Campbell. In December 2006, he became the party's Health spokesman and was succeeded by Ed Davey as Campbell's Chief of Staff. In 2009 he took up the case of an LBC broadcast by Jeni Barnett in which she cast doubt on the safety of the MMR vaccine, tabling an Early Day Motion criticising those involved.[3]

At the 2010 General Election, Lamb won a third term as North Norfolk's MP. Lamb secured yet an even larger majority both in percentage terms and in absolute votes. Following the formation of the Cameron Ministry in May 2010, Lamb was appointed a parliamentary private secretary to Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg.[4]

On 3 February 2012, Norman Lamb was promoted to the role of junior minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills after Ed Davey was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the resignation of Chris Huhne consequent on his prosecution for perverting the course of justice.

In January 2015 The Daily Telegraph highlighted a £497,000 grant to upgrade Sheringham railway station in Lamb's constituency as an example of non-essential money being spent in marginal Coalition constituencies ahead of the General election and accused the government of "electioneering on the taxpayer". Lamb had announced the additional spend as "fantastic news" for the area, with Downing Street subsequently denying that either the funding or Lamb's role in announcing the funding was linked to electoral objectives.[5]

Lamb won a fourth term as North Norfolk's MP, at the 2015 General Election, albeit with a significantly reduced majority; in the same election, the total Parliamentary party was reduced to eight members, triggering the resignation of Nick Clegg on 8 May. Following this, Lamb announced his intention to stand for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, a contest he lost in July to Tim Farron.

Personal life

He married Mary in 1984, and they have two sons. They live in Norwich. Their son Archie Lamb is co-founder of the independent record label Takeover Entertainment which promotes Tinchy Stryder.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC Profile
  2. ^ Ministerial profile: Norman Lamb
  3. ^ http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=37811&SESSION=899
  4. ^ http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/latest-news/2010/11/government-publishes-list-of-parliamentary-private-secretaries-57099
  5. ^ Christopher Hope, and Ben Riley-Smith (26 January 2015). "Government pumps tens of millions of pounds into Coalition MPs' constiituencies ahead of polling day". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  6. ^ http://services.edp24.co.uk/norfolk/future50_2010/content/jack-foster-and-archie-lamb.aspx
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for North Norfolk
2001–present 		Incumbent
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