Norman Lamb | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||
| Chair of theScience and Technology Committee | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 July 2017 – 6 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stephen Metcalfe | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Greg Clark | ||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Care and Support | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 September 2012 – 8 May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Paul Burstow | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alistair Burt | ||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 February 2012 – 4 September 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ed Davey | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jo Swinson | ||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Private Secretary to theDeputy Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 May 2010 – 3 February 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Paul Clark(2007) | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jo Swinson | ||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forNorth Norfolk | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 June 2001 – 6 November 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Prior | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Duncan Baker | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | Norman Peter Lamb (1957-09-16)16 September 1957 (age 68) Watford, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Independent(since 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Labour(until 1981) SDP(1981–1988) Liberal Democrats(1988–2021) | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Leicester | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||
| a.^ Office vacant from 12 May 2010 to 9 January 2015. | |||||||||||||||||
Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is aBritish politician and solicitor. He was theLiberal DemocratMember of Parliament (MP) forNorth Norfolk from2001 to2019, and was the chair of theScience and Technology Select Committee from 2017 to 2019.[2]
Lamb was a candidate in the2015 Liberal Democrats leadership election. He served most recently asMinister of State for Care and Support in theDepartment of Health, and previously asMinister of State for Employment Relations in theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills, and earlier asParliamentary Private Secretary to Deputy Prime MinisterNick Clegg in theConservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government.
Lamb was born inWatford, Hertfordshire, the son of climatologist ProfessorHubert Lamb and the great-grandson of the mathematician SirHorace Lamb. He went toWymondham College in Norfolk, then theUniversity of Leicester, graduating with anLLB.
Following his graduation, Lamb worked as a solicitor. He began to specialise in employment law whilst working for Steele and Co Solicitors (now called Steeles Law). His book,Remedies in the Employment Tribunal: Damages for Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal was published in 1998.
Lamb worked for a year as a researcher for Labour MPGreville Janner in the early 1980s.[3] A meeting withShirley Williams in Parliament at this time, shortly after the formation in 1981 of theSocial Democratic Party (SDP), spurred Lamb into front line active politics and he was elected toNorwich City Council where he led the Liberal Democrat group until he stood down in 1991 in order to pursue his Westminster ambitions.[4]
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Having first stood for election atNorth Norfolk in 1992, when the Conservative majority was reduced, he came close to a major shock at the 1997 general election, when he reduced aConservative majority of 12,545 to just 1,293 votes. He was finally elected in 2001, which was his third attempt for the seat; narrowly defeating the incumbent Conservative MPDavid Prior by 483 votes. He was re-elected in 2005 with a significantly increased majority of 10,606 votes, despite a campaign by the Conservatives and their candidateIain Dale to unseat him in what was one of their foremost target seats. He was re-elected for a second time in 2010 with a majority of 11,626 votes.
Norman Lamb's first appointment, after being elected, was as a Liberal Democrat spokesman on International Development. Soon after this, he was chosen by then party leaderCharles Kennedy to act as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. Following the 2005 general election, Lamb was promoted and appointed Liberal DemocratTrade spokesman (2005–2006), securing the endorsement of the Liberal Democrat Spring 2006 Conference for a policy to partially privatise theRoyal 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, SirMenzies Campbell. In December 2006, he became the party's Health spokesman and was succeeded byEd Davey as Campbell's Chief of Staff.
At the 2010 general election, Lamb was re-elected for a third time as MP for North Norfolk. Lamb secured a larger majority than before, both in percentage terms and in absolute votes. Following the formation of theConservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in May 2010, Lamb was appointed aParliamentary Private Secretary toDeputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,Nick Clegg.[5]
On 3 February 2012, Norman Lamb was promoted to the role of junior minister in theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills afterEd Davey was appointedSecretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the resignation ofChris Huhne consequent onhis prosecution andresignation from Parliament.
In January 2015,The Daily Telegraph highlighted a £497,000 grant to upgradeSheringham railway station in Lamb's constituency as an example of non-essential money being spent in marginal coalition constituencies ahead of the2015 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.[6]
At the2015 general election, Lamb was returned to Parliament with a significantly reduced majority. At the same election, the Liberal Democrats were reduced to just eight seats and lost their status as the UK's official "third party", having been overtaken by theScottish National Party in terms of seats won.Nick Clegg resigned as Leader of the Liberal Democrats the following day, on 8 May. Lamb stood at thesubsequent Lib Dem leadership election, where he lost toTim Farron on 16 July. Lamb was re-elected at the 2017 general election with a majority of 6.7%, an election in which he served as Farron's chief of staff.[7]
On 12 July 2017, Lamb beat fellow Lib Dem MPJo Swinson to become the Chair of theScience and Technology Select Committee by 343 votes to Swinson's 222.[8]
In April 2018, Lamb had a stroke which he attributed to long working days and not getting enough sleep. Shortly after the stroke, Lamb told theEastern Daily Press that "There is no point killing myself. I've got to work smarter. When a doctor tells you about the importance of sleep you have to take notice ... I am kicking myself that I have allowed this to happen. I am determined to learn a lesson".[9]
On 27 August 2019 Lamb announced he would not be seeking re-election and would stand down at thenext UK general election.[10]
In 2018 Lamb became Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing.[11] On 24 October 2019 Lamb resigned from the group, writing to its secretariat "I do believe fundamentally in transparency and accountability to the public who ask questions."[12]
Lamb has expressed concern that the number ofGPs willing to work indeprived areas is falling and Lamb would like doctors paid a patient premium to work with poor patients. Lamb said, "These figures [indicating a fall in the numbers of doctors working in poor areas] show a really disturbing trend, particularly given that low-income areas were already under-doctored before this latest fall took place".[13]
Lamb was also concerned over public spending cuts and a possibleno-deal Brexit, writing onTwitter in 2018: "Outrageous! Ahomelessness crisis, care for elderly & disabled people close to collapse, funds for special needs children cut, people with mental ill health waiting far too long for treatment - and Gov spends billions on preparing for no deal Brexit which is completely avoidable!"[14]
Following the2019 General Election, Lamb said that he "largely fell out with the party in the period sincethe referendum", and that the party'sposition of reversing Brexit had become "more and more extreme".[15] He left the Liberal Democrats in 2021.[16]
He successfully endorsed Liberal DemocratSteff Aquarone in his old North Norfolk seat and the Green Party'sAdrian Ramsay inWaveney Valley in the 2024 General Election.[17]
In his role as chair of the Science and Technology Committee, Lamb initiated measures that led to a significant improvement in medical research transparency in the UK.[18]
Lamb has been an outspoken advocate for the legalisation ofcannabis in the UK.[19][20][21] In 2018 he introduced aTen Minute Rule bill to legalise the drug, which was unsuccessful.[22]
In 2019, as part of a BBC documentary, Lamb visited Canada and tookcannabis oil, where it is legal.[23]
He married Mary in 1984, and they have two sons. They live inNorwich. Their son Archie Lamb was a co-founder of the independent record labelTakeover Entertainment which promotedTinchy Stryder.[24]
Lamb wasknighted in the2019 Birthday Honours.[25][26] He was appointed chair ofSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in December 2019,[27] he retired from the role in 2025.[28]
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNorth Norfolk 2001–2019 | Succeeded by |
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