Our Patron

The HMSA is proud to announce that we can now confirm that Mr Norman Lamb MP and Shadow Health Secretary for the Liberal Democrat Party has kindly agreed to act as our first ever Patron.

We would also like to thank member, Tabitha Van Der Does for her initial approach to Norman.

Cathy
HMSA Trustee

Who is Norman Lamb?

Norman Lamb has lived in Norfolk since 1971 - apart from university, law school and a job at Westminster for a year. He is married to Mary and they have two children, Archie and Ned.

Norman's family moved to Norfolk when his father, Professor Hubert Lamb, established the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The Unit has become a world renowned research institution.

Achieving a degree in law, Norman was President of the University Law Society in his final year. He then qualified as a solicitor after working for a year as a Parliamentary Assistant for Greville Janner, QC, MP.

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Norwich City Council was Norman's first employer. He worked there as a senior assistant solicitor before joining Norfolk solicitors Steele and Co. A year after joining the company Norman became a partner, and went on to head the firm's specialist Employment Unit. He was recognised as a leader in employment law in the two national guides to the legal profession: the Legal 500 and Chambers Directory (he is described as "charismatic"!) and is the author of a book on employment law: Remedies in the Employment Tribunal, published by Sweet and Maxwell in 1998.

Norman's Political History

Norman Lamb's first entry into politics was in the unlikely role of researcher for a Labour MP in the early 1980's. But with the launch of the SDP and the Alliance with the Liberal Party, Norman set about winning the formerly solid Labour seat of Nelson Ward on Norwich City. After a number of years of hard work for local residents in Nelson Ward, Norman not only got himself but also a further three Liberal Democrats, including his wife Mary, elected as County Councillors.

After quickly being spotted as a rising star of the Liberal Democrats, helping organise Paddy Ashdown's successful leadership bid in Norfolk and becoming leader of the opposition on Norwich City Council, Norman was encouraged to move his talents on to a Parliamentary seat.

In 1991 Norman was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk Liberal Democrats and, after a string of local council by-election victories, established himself and the Liberal Democrats as the clear rival to the Conservatives in North Norfolk.

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Following his election to Parliament, in the autumn of 2001 Norman was appointed Lib Dem Deputy Spokesperson for International Development. In November 2002 he moved to become Shadow Treasury Minister in the party's Treasury Team and in January 2003 he was elected to the influential Treasury Select Committee. In October 2003 he was appointed PPS to Charles Kennedy.

He has built a strong reputation in Norfolk as a campaigner for improved health services. He has been a critic of cuts in bed numbers and has highlighted the resulting unacceptable level of cancelled operations. Within his first six weeks as an MP he secured an Adjournment Debate on orthopaedic waiting times in Norfolk.

Another of Norman's concerns is the provision of local public transport; his second Adjournment Debate focused on the lack of school transport services in North Norfolk. Since then, he has led Adjournment Debates on police funding in Norfolk, the HIV/AIDS crisis facing Africa and Asia, the controversial sale of military air traffic control system in Tanzania and the situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa, with a particular focus on how the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has allegedly been prolonged by multinational actors. In 2004, Norman led Adjournment Debates on funding for Further Education Colleges, and the provision of care for people with dementia.

Following the 2005 election, Norman Lamb was appointed to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet, with responsibility for Trade & Industry. In this role, Norman put forward radical proposals to save the post office network. In March 2006, Norman was appointed as Chief of Staff to the new Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell. In December 2006, Norman was appointed as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary.

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