The Rt Hon Lord Lansley of Orwell served as Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire from 1997-2015. For thirteen years he was a member of the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet. In the Cabinet, he served as Secretary of State for Health and as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal in which role he led the implementation of the Government’s legislative programme. He served on several parliamentary select committees including Trade and Industry, Health, the Puttnam Commission (scrutinising the draft Communications Bill) and various standing committees including the Water Bill, the Competition Bill and the Enterprise Bill.

He was former Vice Chairman of the Conservative party and Director of the Conservative Party Research Department. He was previously Deputy Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce and Principal Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Norman Tebbit MP.

As an MP, he was a strong supporter of local business, enterprise and innovation and was a staunch champion for the ‘Cambridge Cluster’; the leading science and technology hub in Europe where he was instrumental in delivering key developments for the region. He was educated at the University of Exeter where he was President of the Guild of Students.