Andrew Lansley

Andrew David Lansley, Baron Lansley (born 11 December 1956) is a British Conservative politician who previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Leader of the House of Commons. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2015.

Lansley was born in Hornchurch, Essex, and studied Politics at the University of Exeter. He worked in the civil service before entering politics. He ran the Conservatives' campaign in the 1992 general election while at the Conservative Research Department, and later was Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party at the 2001 general election.

Lansley was the Shadow Secretary of State for Health from 2004 until 2010, the Secretary of State for Health from 2010 until 2012, and Leader of the House of Commons from 2012 until 2014. As Health Secretary, Lansley was responsible for the government's controversial Health and Social Care Act 2012. In 2024 an independent report commissioned by the Government described the Lansley reforms as "a calamity without international precedent". Lansley announced his intention to stand down as an MP in 2015, and was awarded a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. Following his career in Westminster, Lansley advised corporate clients on healthcare reforms.

Born in Hornchurch, Essex, Lansley was educated at Brentwood School and the University of Exeter, gaining a BA in politics. In 1977 while at Exeter University, Lansley was elected President of the Guild of Students (Student Union), as a Tory Reform Group candidate. His father Thomas worked in a pathology laboratory, and became co-founder of the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine and President of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Scientists.

Before entering politics, Lansley had "a promising career in the civil service". Lansley worked for Norman Tebbit for three years as his private secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry. This encompassed the period of the IRA's 1984 Brighton hotel bombing at the Conservative Party Conference in which Tebbit was seriously injured. Lansley and others have been praised by Tebbit for their support at that time.^{[citation needed]}

Lansley went on to become more fully involved in politics. A member of the Social Democratic Party who joined the Conservatives after the SDP dissolved in 1988, he was appointed in 1990 to run the Conservative Research Department. He ran the Conservative campaign for the 1992 general election, which he describes as one of "his proudest career achievements" He suffered a minor stroke in 1992, initially misdiagnosed as an ear infection, but made a full recovery save for permanently losing his sense of "fine balance".

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political service in the 1996 New Year Honours.

Lansley sought to enter parliament and was selected for the South Cambridgeshire seat where he was subsequently elected as an MP in 1997. He immediately joined the House of Commons health select committee.