Norman Lamb

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Norman Lamb

Norman Lamb.Portrait.jpg

Name Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September, 1957)
Politics
Party Liberal Democrat
Constituency North Norfolk (2001 - present)
Positions • Minister of State for Care and Support (September 2012 - May 2015)
• Minister of State for Employment Relations (February 2012 - May 2012)
• Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Health (December 2006 - May 2010)
Likes Mental health care, fox hunting, drug legalisation
Dislikes ?
Friends Nick Clegg
Enemies Andrew Lansley
Relationships
Partners Mary (married 1984)
Children Two sons
Personal Attributes
Nationality English
Religion ?
Sexuality Straight
Height 5' 8"
Eye Colour Blue-grey
Handedness Right
Accent Southern

Notable for being one of the few Lib Dems to survive the 2015 wipeout and one of even fewer people named "Norman" after 1950, Norman Lamb was a health minister in the Coalition government. He is frequently hailed as one of the Coaltion's great success stories for his emphasis on mental health, although given that his government presided over the loss of hundreds of mental health beds it's not entirely clear why. He was the runner-up in the 2015 Lib Dem leadership contest.

Life and Career[edit | edit source]

Early Life and Pre-political Career[edit | edit source]

Norman was born in Watford to a long line of academics. He went to Wymondham College, a state boarding school, and then the University of Leicester where he read law. After graduating he became a solicitor and specialised in employment law. In 1998 he wrote a book, Remedies in the Employment Tribunal: Damages for Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal, which could probably do with an update now that the Coalition has legislated to make employment tribunals prohibitively expensive.

Early Political Career[edit | edit source]

Norman got his start in politics as a researcher for Labour MP Greville Janner in the 1980s, but like many a young, centrist Labourite he was seduced away by the feminine wiles of Shirley Williams and soon joined the SDP. He served on the Norwich City Council for several years and led the Lib Dem group there until he stood down in 1991 to pursue a seat in Parliament.

He first stood for Norwich North in 1992 and made a small dent in the massive Conservative majority. In 1997 he had better luck, cutting it from more than 12,000 to 1,293, and in 2001 he finally won the seat by 483 votes.

Parliamentary Career[edit | edit source]

In Opposition[edit | edit source]

Norman began his parliamentary career as an international development spokesman and became Charles Kennedy's PPS, but he spent most of his first Parliament increasing his majority. Despite a concerted Tory effort to retake the seat he crushed his Conservative opponent by 10,000 votes in 2005, building up the buffer that would save him from the Cleggpocalypse a decade later.

After the election he was appointed the Lib Dem Trade and Industry spokesman and won a conference resolution to part-privatise the Royal Mail and to use the proceeds to invest in a publicly owned Post Office network. (Well, they did the privatisation bit.) In March 2006, he became Ming Campbell's Chief of Staff, and in December he became the Lib Dem Health spokesman.

In Government[edit | edit source]

After the Coalition was formed in 2010 Norman became Nick Clegg's PPS. In February 2012 he was made a junior minister at DTI in the reshuffle that followed Chris Huhne's resignation, and in September of that year he became Minister of State for Care and Support, a post he remained in for the rest of the Parliament.

He is widely viewed to have been a great success in this role, although his actual record is very mixed. He halved the number of people who ended up in police cells as the result of a mental health crisis, introduced waiting time standards for mental health care for the first time and got parity of esteem for mental health enshrined in legislation. But he also presided over a massive reduction in the number of mental health beds available in the NHS, an acute crisis in youth mental health care and cuts to social care that resulted in long waits in A&E as hospitals filled up with vulnerable patients who could not be sent home.

More than anything else, this teflon coating may qualify Norman for the leadership of his party, as there are few traits more valuable for a politician than the ability to escape blame.

Norman weighs in on the cake vs. biscuit controversy.

2015 Leadership Contest[edit | edit source]

Norman survived the 2015 Lib Dem wipeout in remarkably fine fettle, with a healthy majority of more than 4,000.

He was the first MP to declare his candidacy for the leadership after Nick Clegg resigned. The original pre-election plan was for him to stand as the safe-pair-of-hands centrist unity candidate, but then all the Orange Bookers except Nick lost their seats, leaving Norman as the sole standard-bearer for the entire right wing of the party. His candidacy therefore morphed into a sort of continuity-Clegg affair.

His campaign got into trouble after it was accused of push polling Liberal Democrat activists on Tim's patchy gay rights record, leading to an internal inquiry. Norman promptly suspended the people responsible from his campaign.

Despite securing a key endorsement from Dappy, Norman predictably lost the contest to Tim Farron. There was a bittersweet irony to his defeat, as Tim ran largely on his strength as a campaigner and it was Norman who had mentored him on how to build up his majority when Tim was first elected to Parliament. Tim still has the checklist of campaigning tips Norman gave him hanging in his office.[1]

Norman Lamb.Pensive.jpg
Full List of Appointments
• Junior Shadow Spokesperson for International Development (19 July, 2001 - 18 July, 2002)
• Junior Shadow Spokesperson for the Treasury (18 July, 2002 - 21 July, 2005)
• Shadow Spokesman for Trade and Industry (14 July, 2005 - 20 July, 2006)
• Chief of Staff to Menzies Campebll (March 2006 - 20 July, 2006)
• Shadow Spokesman for Health (20 July, 2006 - 11 May, 2010)
• PPS to Nick Clegg (12 May, 2010 - 3 February, 2012)
• Assistant Whip (12 May, 2010 - 3 February, 2012)
• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (3 February, 2012 - 6 September, 2012)
• Minister of State, Department of Health (6 September, 2012 - 30 March, 2015)

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

Norman's son Archie runs a record label and has suffered from various mental health and addiction issues, which may have sparked his father's interest in mental health provision.

Ideology[edit | edit source]

Norman is on the right wing of the party and is considered an Orange Booker, although he didn't actually contribute to the book.

Portrayal[edit | edit source]

In the Media[edit | edit source]

Norman is generally portrayed as competent and reliable. As previously mentioned, this seems to be more of an aura than an assessment of his record.

In Fanon[edit | edit source]

Norman is too safe a pair of hands to have much of a fandom profile.

References[edit | edit source]