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George Freeman (politician)

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George Freeman
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation[a]
In office
26 October 2022 – 13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byNusrat Ghani
Succeeded byAndrew Griffith
In office
17 September 2021 – 7 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byAmanda Solloway
Succeeded byNusrat Ghani
Minister of State for Transport
In office
26 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAndrew Stephenson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences
In office
15 July 2014 – 15 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNicola Blackwood
Member of Parliament
for Mid Norfolk
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byKeith Simpson
Majority3,054 (6.7%)
Personal details
Born (1967-07-12) 12 July 1967 (age 57)
Cambridge, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
OccupationPolitician
Websitegeorgefreeman.co.uk

George William Freeman (born 12 July 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Norfolk since 2010. He previously served as Minister for Science, Research and Innovation from September 2021 until his resignation in July 2022, and again from October 2022 until November 2023.[1][2]

Early life

[edit]

Freeman was born at Cambridge in 1967 to jockey Arthur Freeman and Joanna Stockbridge.[3][4][5] He counts 19th-century Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone as his great-great-great-uncle, and the actress and politician Mabel Philipson as his great-aunt.[6][7][8] His parents divorced soon after he was born, and he had no contact with his father until he reached adulthood, growing up as a ward of court.[3][9] Freeman later bought at auction the trophy his father received as winner of the 1958 Grand National.[3]

He was privately educated at Radley College before going up to Girton College, Cambridge, and graduated with a Geography degree in 1989.[5] After university, Freeman worked in Westminster as a lobbyist for the National Farmers' Union.[10] Before entering Parliament, he had a career in biomedical venture capital for fifteen years, during which he founded and financed four biomedical start-ups.[11][10]

Political career

[edit]

Freeman stood unsuccessfully as PPC for Stevenage at the 2005 general election. Then added to the Conservative A-List, he was selected for Mid Norfolk in October 2006.[12]

Freeman was elected at the 2010 general election as MP for Mid Norfolk. The previous MP, Keith Simpson, contested the neighbouring Broadland constituency instead.

Shortly after entering Parliament, Freeman was elected Chairman of the All Party Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture. He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Climate Change, Greg Barker, in the Coalition Government's first tranche of appointments and in July 2011, Freeman was appointed Government Life Science Advisor.

After a number of accidents on the A47 road in his constituency, Freeman campaigned for investment in safety.[13][14] The road was included in a programme of investment announced in December 2014.[15]

In 2014, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences at the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.[16] The role had not previously existed in any country.[8] Freeman was nicknamed "High Tech Hezza", after Michael Heseltine whose former office he occupied while minister.[8] During this role, Freeman was criticised by Labour opponents for describing use of prosecutions to enforce the minimum wage as "the politics of envy".[17] In 2015, he asked the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to establish an enquiry into disabilities caused by hormone pregnancy tests.[18]

Freeman is a co-founder of the 2020 Group of Conservative MPs, which he described as the "radical progressive centre ground" of the Conservative Party.[19][20]

In 2017, Freeman criticised a tribunal ruling that people with extreme anxiety who struggle to leave the house should have the same legal status as the partially sighted, saying that the former were not "really disabled". After criticism from opposition MPs, disability charity Scope, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, he said that he regretted if his comment "inadvertently caused any offence which was not intended", and that he did not "need any lectures on the damage anxiety does" after childhood experience of anxiety and depression.[21][22][23]

Freeman chaired the Prime Minister's Policy Board until his resignation in November 2017.[24] He warned the party not to be defined by "nostalgia, hard Brexit, public sector austerity and lazy privilege".[25] In September 2018, he called for Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation once a deal on the UK's departure from the European Union was secured through Parliament.[26] He said he would stand to be her successor if supported by his party, before ruling out the possibility shortly afterward.[27][28]

Freeman founded The Big Tent Ideas Festival in 2017, with a view to connecting the Conservative Party with younger people following Jeremy Corbyn's appearance at Glastonbury Festival that summer.[29][30] He called the event a "Tory Glastonbury".[31] In 2018, he changed the festival to be "non-party political so that MPs, peers and others from the centre left can also get involved", and claimed that “for a generation under 40 the traditional party conference is as dead as a dodo”.[29]

In 2018 Freeman set up The Bridge of Hope,[32] a charity in memory of his father, in an attempt to establish "a mechanism for taking those who had taken a fall in life, whether from injury, disability, mental illness, addiction, crime, debt, homelessness and giving them a second chance".[33]

On 26 July 2019, at the beginning of the first Johnson ministry, Freeman was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport. leaving Government at the Cabinet reshuffle in February 2020.

Freeman at the British Consulate-General in Boston in 2023

In February 2021, Freeman apologised for breaking the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments' financial conflict-of-interest rules after he took paid work from Aerosol Shield,[34] a company trying to sell PPE to the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.[35]

On 17 September 2021, Freeman returned to Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, during the second Cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.[36] In May 2022, he was on the advisory board of Bright Blue, a liberal conservative think tank, as well as think tanks Radix and Reform.[37] He resigned from his ministerial office on 7 July 2022 during the government crisis that month.[38]

During the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, Freeman initially supported Penny Mordaunt, but later said that "given the urgent need for Conservative stability and unity this week, I'm urging her to join and back Rishi Sunak today".[39]

On 26 October 2022, at the beginning of the Sunak ministry, Freeman was reappointed Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation.[40]

During a Commons debate in March 2023, Freeman alleged that in 2014, the Chinese genomics firm BGI Group had made multiple attempts each week to “hack” into Genomics England, and that the firm remained "one of those danger points in the ecosystem." BGI had been given an £11 million COVID testing contract in 2021 and had also shared data with UK universities and the Wellcome Trust. Hours later, government sources stated that “there is no evidence of attempted hacking of Genomics England in 2014 from BGI. However, like most organisations they do receive regular attempts to access their systems, for which there are appropriate defences in place. No successful breaches have occurred.” BGI Group stated; “we are incredulous at this statement. BGI Group has never been, and will never be, involved in ‘hack attacks’ against anyone.”[41] Freeman later requested that the Hansard record of his statement should be amended to state that “there is no evidence of attempted hacking of Genomics England in 2014 from BGI.”[42]

On 13 November 2023 as part of a cabinet reshuffle, Freeman resigned, citing a need to focus on his "health, family well-being and life beyond the front bench." He had already informed the chief whip of his decision in September.[11] Freeman later stated that he had quit because he "couldn't afford" a rise in his mortgage rates from £800 to £2000 per calendar month on his £118,300 ministerial salary.[43][44] He was criticised by some of his constituents and other voters for the move, though was defended by the Mid Norfolk Conservative Association.[45]

Freeman was re-elected, for a fifth term, in the July 2024 general election, with his majority significantly reduced from 22,594 to 3,054.[46][47]

Personal life

[edit]

Freeman was married to Eleanor Holmes from 1996 to 2016, and has two children.[5][48]

In 2020 Freeman married theatre director Fiona Laird.[49] They divide their time between homes in London and Norfolk.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation (September 2021 – July 2022)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". gov.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Minister of State (Minister for Science, Research and Innovation) – GOV.UK". gov.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Armytage, Marcus (17 December 2012). "National treasure finds its natural home as George Freeman MP stumps up for 1958 trophy". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. ^ "George Freeman MP". Democracy Live. BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Who's Who. Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved on 17 June 2011.
  6. ^ Mance, Henry (5 August 2017). "Tory activists plan Conservative answer to Glastonbury". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 August 2017. Mr Freeman — a descendant of the Liberal prime minister William Gladstone and a former biotechnology investor — said he envisions the Conservative Ideas Festival as a 'cross between Hay-on-Wye and the Latitude festival'.
  7. ^ Freeman, George [@GeorgeFreemanMP] (5 January 2018). "Yes this is my GreatAunt Mabel Philipson" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ a b c Pagano, Margareta (24 July 2014). "George Freeman: Just the man for a matter of life and death". The Independent.
  9. ^ Freezer, David (5 October 2013). "Three Norfolk MPs left shocked after meeting foster carers". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  10. ^ a b Armitstead, Louise (9 December 2012). "George Freeman unites science, business and NHS". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  11. ^ a b Havergal, Chris (13 November 2023). "Science minister George Freeman quits in UK Cabinet reshuffle". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  12. ^ www.midnorfolkconservatives.org.uk
  13. ^ Gretton, Adam; Walsh, Peter (17 June 2013). "Family's tribute to Sprowston motorcyclist killed in A47 crash". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  14. ^ George, Martin (10 October 2020). "Facebook appeal for blackspot action after man killed on A47 at Scarning, near Dereham". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  15. ^ Graham, Georgia (1 December 2014). "£15 billion for road schemes: Where will they be?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Battleground Anglia: Mid Norfolk". ITV News. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  17. ^ Dickson, Annabelle (3 March 2015). "Conservative MP George Freeman "politics of envy" comment provokes Labour outrage". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  18. ^ Carding, Nicholas (31 July 2015). "Mother searches for answers as inquiry is launched into disabilities caused by pregnancy tests". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  19. ^ Dominiczak, Peter (22 June 2014). "Tory plans for retired pensioners to retrain as teachers". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  20. ^ Crick, Michael (16 November 2011). "Centre-left Tories to challenge Conservative Home". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  21. ^ Worley, Will (26 February 2017). "Disability benefits should go to 'really disabled people' not 'anxiety sufferers', says Theresa May's adviser". The Independent. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  22. ^ Stewart, Heather (27 February 2017). "May adviser regrets saying benefits should only go to 'really disabled' people". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  23. ^ "Disability benefits: PIPs should be for 'really disabled'". BBC News. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  24. ^ Bienkov, Adam (20 November 2017). "Theresa May's Policy Chief George Freeman Resigns". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  25. ^ Buchan, Lizzy (20 November 2017). "George Freeman: Head of Theresa May's policy unit resigns". The Independent. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  26. ^ McGuinness, Alan (13 September 2018). "Theresa May should sort Brexit deal and then go, former policy chief says". Sky News. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  27. ^ Porritt, Richard (14 September 2018). "Norfolk MP: 'I'll stand to be next PM'". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  28. ^ Grimmer, Dan (26 September 2018). "'I do NOT plan to stand' – Norfolk MP George Freeman rules out Conservative leadership bid".
  29. ^ a b Quinn, Ben (8 September 2018). "'You can have a voice': political festivals on the rise in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  30. ^ Mance, Henry (5 August 2017). "Tory activists plan Conservative answer to Glastonbury". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  31. ^ Elgot, Jessica (29 August 2017). "Activate: Tories mimic Momentum with grassroots campaign". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  32. ^ www.racingtogether.co.uk
  33. ^ Armytage, Marcus (8 April 2018). "60 years after Aintree triumph, Arthur Freeman's poignant legacy will offer many a second chance". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  34. ^ www.aerosolshield.com
  35. ^ Dyer, Henry. "Conservative MP apologises for breaking financial ethics rules on relationship with PPE company". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". GOV.UK. 16 September 2021.
  37. ^ "List of Ministers' Interests: May 2022". gov.uk. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  38. ^ Dugan, Emily (7 July 2022). "Government crisis: more ministers resign from cabinet". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  39. ^ Elgot, Jessica (24 October 2022). "Penny Mordaunt was fewer than 10 MPs shy of making ballot against Rishi Sunak". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". gov.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  41. ^ Boffey, Daniel (8 March 2023). "Chinese firm got Covid contract despite trying to hack NHS data, minister says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  42. ^ Yang, Yuan; Pickard, Jim (8 March 2023). "Chinese genomics company accused of hack attempts by UK minister". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  43. ^ Mitchell, Archie (29 January 2024). "Sunak minister says he quit government because he could not afford mortgage hike on £120k salary". The Independent. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  44. ^ Issimdar, Mariam (29 January 2024). "George Freeman quit as minister as he 'couldn't afford' mortgage". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  45. ^ Issimdar, Mariam (30 January 2024). "George Freeman: Voters criticise MP who 'couldn't afford' mortgage". BBC News. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  46. ^ "Conservatives take Mid Norfolk for another term". Eastern Daily Press. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  47. ^ "Norfolk Mid Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  48. ^ Sylvester, Rachel (11 June 2016). "Philip Green should remember that with privilege comes responsibility: Tory business minister George Freeman sends a moral message to big corporate chiefs". The Times.
  49. ^ www.thetimes.co.uk
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Freeman (politician).
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Mid Norfolk
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Office established Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Minister of State for Transport
2019–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State of State for Science, Research and Innovation
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
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