The Lord Willetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Universities and Science | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 May 2010 – 14 July 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Lammy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Greg Clark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paymaster General | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 July 1996 – 21 November 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Heathcoat-Amory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Michael Bates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 July 1995 – 28 November 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Andrew Mitchell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Liam Fox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 16 October 2015 Life Peerage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forHavant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 April 1992 – 30 March 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ian Lloyd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alan Mak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | David Linsay Willetts (1956-03-09)9 March 1956 (age 69) Birmingham, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Sarah Butterfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | King Edward's School, Birmingham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (BA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts,PC, FRS, HonFRSC, HonFREng, FAcSS (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician andlife peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was theMember of Parliament representing the constituency ofHavant inHampshire. He served asMinister of State for Universities and Science from 2010 until July 2014 and became a member of theHouse of Lords in 2015. He was appointed chair of the UK Space Agency's board in April 2022.[1] He is president of theResolution Foundation.
Born in Birmingham, Willetts studiedphilosophy, politics and economics atChrist Church, Oxford. After working forNigel Lawson as a private researcher, Willetts moved to Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit. At age 31, Willetts became head of theCentre for Policy Studies, before entering theHouse of Commons forHavant at the1992 general election. He was quickly appointed to a number of positions before being appointedPaymaster General in 1996. During this period, Willetts gained the nickname "Two Brains". However, he was later forced to resign later that year after it was found that he had "dissembled" in his evidence to theStandards and Privileges Committee over whether pressure was put onto an earlier investigation into Conservative MPNeil Hamilton.
Willetts returned to the Conservative frontbench after the party's defeat in the1997 general election, serving asShadow Education Secretary before becomingShadow Work and Pensions Secretary. Following the2005 election, he served asShadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and then backedDavid Davis in the2005 Conservative leadership election. Despite this, he was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills inDavid Cameron's shadow cabinet, later becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Following the2010 general election, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron appointed Willetts as theMinister of State for Universities and Science, where he pushed forwards with the policy of increasing the cap ontuition fees in England and Wales and sold student loans toErudio Student Loans, removing £160m from the public debt. Willetts stepped down at the2015 general election, and was made a life peer in the2015 Dissolution Honours.
Willetts has pioneered the idea of "civic conservatism", the concept of focusing on the institutions between state and individuals as a policy concern rather than thinking only of individuals and the state. Civic conservativism's focus on a softer social agenda has led journalistFraser Nelson to call Willetts "The real father of Cameronism".
Willetts was educated atKing Edward's School, Birmingham.[2] He then studiedphilosophy, politics and economics[3] atChrist Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a first-class degree.
Having served asNigel Lawson's private researcher,[4] Willetts took charge of theTreasurymonetary policy division at 26 before moving over toMargaret Thatcher'sPolicy Unit at 28. He subsequently took over theCentre for Policy Studies, aged 31.[5]
Paul Foot wrote inPrivate Eye that in a 1993 document calledThe Opportunities for Private Funding in the NHS, published by theSocial Market Foundation and financed by private healthcare companyBUPA, Willetts provided the "intellectual thrust" forprivate finance initiatives (PFIs) in the National Health Service.[6]
Aged 36, Willetts enteredParliament in 1992 as theMP for Havant. He quickly established himself in Parliament, becoming aWhip, aCabinet Office Minister, and thenPaymaster General in his first term (when that role was split between theCabinet Office andHM Treasury as a policy co-ordination role). During this period Willetts gained "Two Brains" as a nickname, amonicker reportedly coined byThe Guardian's former political editorMichael White.[7] However, Willetts was forced to resign from the latter post by the Standards and Privileges Committee over an investigation intoNeil Hamilton in 1996, when it found that he had "dissembled" in his evidence to the Committee over whether pressure was put onto an earlier investigation into Hamilton.[8]
Despite the resignation, Willetts was able to return to the shadow front bench a few years later whileWilliam Hague was Leader of the Opposition, initially serving in theShadow Cabinet as Shadow Education Secretary before becoming Shadow Social Security (later Shadow Work and Pensions) Secretary. He carved out a reputation as an expert on pensions and benefits. Since leaving the DWP post, he has been recruited as an external consultant by the actuariesPunter Southall.[citation needed]
Following the 2005 election, he served asShadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the Shadow Cabinet underMichael Howard. In August 2005, after ruling out running for leader owing to a lack of support, commentators speculated that he was gunning for the post ofShadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and would cut a deal with eitherDavid Davis orDavid Cameron. On 15 September he confirmed his support for Davis, at that time thebookies' favourite. Willetts, a centrist moderniser, went to ground following the announcement of the Davis tax plan since it was widely speculated that he disagreed with the seemingly uncosted and widely derided[9] tax plan and found it impossible to defend. Davis then lost the candidacy race to Cameron.
Following Cameron's win, Willetts was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills in Cameron's first Shadow Cabinet in December 2005, the role Cameron had vacated, later becoming ShadowSecretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. His title became Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills sinceGordon Brown's merger of theDepartment for Innovation, Universities and Skills with theDepartment for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform into theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills in June 2009.
On 19 May 2007, Willetts made a controversial speech ongrammar schools in which he defended the existing Conservative Party policy of not reintroducing grammar schools. The speech received a mixed reception. The analysis was applauded byThe Guardian andThe Times.[7][10][11][12] However,The Daily Telegraph was strongly critical of the speech, which was unpopular with some Conservative Party activists.[13] The speech was made more controversial whenDavid Cameron weighed into the argument, backing Willetts' speech and describing his critics as "delusional", accusing them of "splashing around in the shallow end of the educational debate" and of "clinging on to outdated mantras that bear no relation to the reality of life".[14]
The Department for Education and Skills was abolished by the newPrime Minister,Gordon Brown, who established two new departments. On 2 July 2007, Cameron reshuffled Willetts down to the junior of the two departments: theDepartment for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Following the2010 general election, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron appointed Willetts as the Minister of State for Universities and Science.
In June 2011, Willetts said during the launch of the Government'ssocial mobility strategy that movement between the classes had "stagnated" over the past 40 years, and Willetts attributed this partly to the entry of women into the workplace and universities for the lack of progress for men. "Feminism trumpedegalitarianism", he said, adding that women who would otherwise have been housewives had taken university places and well-paid jobs that could have gone to ambitious working-class men. He went on to say that,
"One of the things that happened over that period was that the entirely admirable transformation of opportunities for women meant that with a lot of the expansion of education in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, the first beneficiaries were the daughters of middle-class families who had previously been excluded from educational opportunities [...] And if you put that with what is called 'assortative mating' – that well-educated women marry well-educated men – this transformation of opportunities for women ended up magnifying social divides. It is delicate territory because it is not a bad thing that women had these opportunities, but it widened the gap in household incomes because you suddenly had two-earner couples, both of whom were well-educated, compared with often workless households where nobody was educated".[15]
As the minister responsible for universities, Willetts was an advocate and spokesperson for thecoalition government's policy of increasing the cap ontuition fees in England and Wales from £3,225 to £9,000 per year.[16][17]
In November 2013, Willetts announced the sale of student loans toErudio Student Loans – a debt collection consortium – removing £160m frompublic debt but ignoring the implications for former students.[18]
In July 2014, Willetts announced that he would not contest thenext general election, saying that "after more than 20 years the time has come to move onto fresh challenges."[19] In October 2014, Willetts was appointed a visiting professor atKing's College London.[20] It was announced that he was to be alife peer in the2015 Dissolution Honours and was created Baron Willetts, ofHavant in theCounty of Hampshire, on 16 October 2015.[21] In June 2015, Willetts was appointed executive chair of the think tank theResolution Foundation.[22] In May 2018 he was elected a Honorary Fellow of theRoyal Society.[23] In February 2022 he was appointed a director of the Synbioven investment fund,[24] and in April 2022 he was appointed chair of the board of theUK Space Agency.[1]
In December 2018, Willetts was one of the signatories of a statement by some senior Conservatives calling for a second referendum overBrexit. This stated, "If we are to remain a party of government, it is absolutely critical that we increase our support among younger generations. To do this, we must listen to and engage with their concerns on Brexit. They voted overwhelmingly to Remain in the European Union in 2016 – and since then have become even stronger in their views. Since the referendum, nearly 2 million young people are now of voting age. Of those in this group who are certain to vote, an astounding 87% support the United Kingdom staying in the European Union. If we do not hear their voices, who could blame them for feeling excluded and powerless on this most vital issue. The truth is that if Brexit fails this generation, we risk losing young people for good. Our party's electoral future will be irrevocably blighted."[25] In early 2019, he co-founded the groupRight to Vote.[26]
According to the Public Whip analyses,[27] Willetts was strongly in favour of an elected House of Lords and was strongly against theban on fox hunting.TheyWorkForYou additionally records that, amongst other things, Willetts was strongly in favour of theIraq War, strongly in favour of an investigation into it, moderately against equal gay rights, and very strongly forreplacing Trident.[28]
Following his decision to stand down at the 2015 General Election, Willetts joined the Resolution Foundation in Summer 2015. He Chaired the Foundation's Intergenerational Commission[29] between 2016 and 2018, and is now President of the Resolution Foundation, along with its Intergenerational Centre.[30] He is currently a visiting professor atKing's College London where he works with the Policy Institute at King's, a visiting professor at theCass Business School, a board member of theInstitute for Fiscal Studies and a visiting fellow atNuffield College, Oxford. On 9 February 2018, theUniversity of Leicester announced they had elected David Willetts as successor toBruce Grocott to become their newchancellor.[31]
Willetts is the author of several books on conservatism, including "Why Vote Conservative" (1996) and "Modern Conservatism" (1992), as well as numerous articles. He was a founding signatory in 2005 of theHenry Jackson Society principles, advocating a proactive approach to the spread ofliberal democracy across the world, including when necessary by military intervention.[32][33] He is an honorary member of Conservative Friends of Poland.[34]
Willetts has pioneered the idea of "civic conservatism". This is the idea of focusing on the institutions between the state and individuals as a policy concern (rather than merely thinking of individuals and the state as the only agencies) and is one of the principles behind the increasing support in the Conservative Party's localist agenda and its emphasis on voluntary organisations. Willetts civic conservatism moves away from the "hard-edged" nature of Thatcherism to a softer social agenda. During an interview withThe Spectator, he was referred to as 'the real father of Cameronism' byFraser Nelson.[35]
Fourteen years after the publication of "Civic Conservatism" Willetts gave the inauguralOakeshott Memorial Lecture to theLondon School of Economics in which he made an attempt to explain how game theory can be used to help think about how to improvesocial capital.[36] The lecture was described by the Times as "an audacious attempt by the Conservative Party's leading intellectual to relate a new Tory narrative".[37]
Civic conservatism, like free market economics, proceeds from deep-seated individual self-interest towards a stable cooperation. It sets the Tories the task not of changing humanity but of designing institutions and arrangements that encourage our natural reciprocal altruism.[38]
Willetts is married to artist Sarah Butterfield.[39] The couple have one daughter, born 1988, and one son, born 1992. His wealth in 2009 was estimated at £1.9m.[40]
Willetts was sworn in as a member of thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom in 2010, giving him thehonorific title "The Right Honourable" and afterennoblement thepost nominal letters "PC" for life.
| Location | Date | School | Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
 England | Christ Church, Oxford | First-class honoursBachelor of Arts (BA) inPPE |
| Location | Date | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 21 October 2014 – | King's College London | Visiting Professor[41] |
| England | July 2018 – March 2023 | University of Leicester | Chancellor[31] |
| England | – | Nuffield College, Oxford | Honorary Fellow[42] |
 |
| Location | Date | School | Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 21 November 2014 | University of Bedfordshire | Doctor of Arts (D.Arts)[43][44] |
| England | 17 July 2016 | University of Leicester | Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)[45][46] |
| England | 4 July 2017 | University of Bath | Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)[47][48] |
| England | 2017 | Richmond, The American International University in London | Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)[49] |
| England | 2017 | University of Chester | Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.)[50] |
|
| Country | Date | Organisation | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
 United Kingdom | 2014 – | Academy of Social Sciences | Fellow (FAcSS)[51][52] |
| United Kingdom | 2016 – | Academy of Medical Sciences | Honorary Fellow (FMedSci)[53][54] |
| United Kingdom | 2017 – | Royal Society of Chemistry | Honorary Fellow (HonFRSC)[55] |
| United Kingdom | 2018 – | Royal Society | Honorary Fellow (FRS)[56] |
| United Kingdom | 2023 – | Royal Academy of Engineering | Honorary Fellow (FREng)[57] |
|
For Willetts' roles in the 1980s–1990s as a welfare specialist:
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHavant 1992–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Paymaster General 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security 1999–2001 | Succeeded by Himself as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions |
| Preceded by Himself as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security | Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2001–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Trade | Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Industry | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills 2005–2007 | Succeeded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families |
| New office | Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 2007–2009 | Position abolished |
| Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills 2009–2010 | ||
| Preceded byas Minister of State for Science and Innovation | Minister of State for Universities and Science 2010–2014 | Succeeded byas Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities |
| Preceded byas Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills | ||
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of theUniversity of Leicester 2018–2023 | Followed by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Willetts | Followed by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
