Stephen John Ladyman (born 6 November 1952) is a

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

until

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Early life

He attended the Birkenhead Institute Grammar School for Boys (became the comprehensive Birkenhead Institute High School then closed in August 1993) on ''Tollemache Road'' in Claughton, before studying at

Liverpool Polytechnic Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This later merged to bec ...

where he received a BSc in Applied Biology. He did work placements at

Rothamsted Experimental Station Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. H ...

and at Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Liverpool, before studying for a PhD awarded by the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal char ...

for researching natural isotopic abundances of elements to enable prediction of soil development when at the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and co ...

laboratory, in the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre,

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a raise ...

. He worked as a research scientist for the Medical Research Council (MRC)

Radiobiology Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology, and uncommonly as actinobiology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, especially health effects of radiation ...

Unit at Harwell in Oxfordshire from 1979–85, where he researched the removal of

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...

s from lung tissue, before becoming Head of Computing for the Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

(now owned by

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cul ...

) from 1985–90, building computer systems for the Kennedy Institute (also part of

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...

), the Arthritis and Rheumatism Research Council and Charing Cross Sunley Research Centre. From 1990–1, he was an IT consultant at

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

Central Research in

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

, south

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

, where

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra, among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is unclear if it is effective for treating sexual dysfunction in women. It is taken by m ...

was discovered, advising research scientists on the design of computer systems, before working as Head of Computer User Support until 1997.

Political career

He contested the

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the V ...

constituency in June 1987, when 34. From 1995–9, Ladyman was a

councillor and was appointed as Chairman of Finance of Thanet District Council. He was elected to Parliament in the

1997 United Kingdom general election The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179 seat majority. T ...

, defeating

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...

. He was a junior minister at the Department for Health from June 2003 until May 2005, when he was appointed Minister of State for Transport having narrowly held his seat in the 2005 General Election with a majority of 664 votes. In the General election of 6 May 2010, Ladyman once again stood as the Labour Party candidate for Thanet South; however, he was defeated by Conservative candidate

Laura Sandys Laura Jane Sandys (; born 5 June 1964) is a former chair of the European Movement UK, and a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet between 2010 and 2015 when she stood down at the ...

who took the seat with a majority of over 7,600. He was chairman of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust from January 2013 to 2020 and appointed as Chair of Wiltshire Health and Care in 2020 and Chair of the National Autistic Society in November 2021.

''Top Gear''

While Minister for Transport, Ladyman appeared on '' Top Gear'' in 2005 to discuss speed cameras with

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear'' and ''The Grand Tour'' alongside Rich ...

during the show's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment. He revealed himself to be a fan of cars, and admitted to having received several speeding fines and a total of nine penalty points. The Minister displayed a passion for fast cars including having owned an

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

and posting a lap time in the 'Reasonably Priced Car' towards the top of the leaderboard. He set a time of 1:48.8, faster than Clarkson's own time of 1:50. After presenter

Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme '' Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and ...

was seriously injured in a high-speed crash in 2006, Ladyman voiced his support for the programme. He denied that ''Top Gear'' encouraged dangerous driving, instead that they "celebrate great engineering and, yes, they celebrate fast cars ... but, equally, they've had me on the programme giving out road safety messages. People don't go onto the road and break the speed limit because they watch ''Top Gear''."
Times Online 'Road safety minister backs Top Gear daredevils'

Personal life

He married Janet Pike (née Baker) in May 1995 on the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in an ...

. He has one daughter, one stepdaughter and two stepsons (one deceased).

References

External links

Dr Stephen Ladyman MP
official site
Department for Transport – Dr Stephen Ladyman MP

Voting record at the Public Whip

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/stephen_ladyman/south_thanet TheyWorkForYou.com – Stephen Ladyman MP
BBC Politics profile

Interviewed on The Westminster Hour about saving the planet

2005 campaign

Video clips

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladyman, Stephen 1952 births Living people People from Ormskirk Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Kent UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People from Birkenhead Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University