George Freeman (politician)
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George Freeman MP |
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| Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit | |
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Assumed office 16 July 2016 |
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| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Camilla Cavendish |
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Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences |
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In office 15 July 2014 – 16 July 2016 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Blackwood |
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Member of Parliament for Mid Norfolk |
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Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Keith Simpson |
| Majority | 13,856 (27.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 July 1967 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Girton College, Cambridge |
| Website | georgefreeman |
George William Freeman (born 12 July 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician and the current Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Norfolk. He was first elected at the 2010 general election, replacing the constituency's previous incumbent, Keith Simpson, who had decided to contest the neighbouring Broadland constituency instead.
In July 2014 he was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences, but after the closure of this office upon Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in 2016 he left the government. Freeman was appointed chair of the Prime Minister's Policy Board in July 2016.
He is a founder of 2020 Conservatives group and a member of Bright Blue's advisory board.
He was educated at Radley College and Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a degree in Geography in 1989.
Before entering Parliament, Freeman had a 15-year career in biomedical venture capital. He spent most of his career in and around the Cambridge cluster supporting high-tech growth businesses. For the seven years prior to being elected he was Founder and Chairman of the specialist translational medicine consultancy 4D Biomedical Ltd. Prior to that he was CEO of Cambridge start-up Amedis Pharmaceuticals, and before that the Director of Early Stage Ventures at Merlin Biosciences. Straight after university, Freeman worked in Westminster as a lobbyist for the National Farmers Union.
Freeman stood as Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in Stevenage in the 2005 general election, being defeated by incumbent Labour MP Barbara Follett though achieving a 6.4% swing towards the Conservatives compared to 5% swing nationally. In 2005, he was added to the Conservative A-List and was selected for Mid Norfolk in October 2006.
Shortly after entering Parliament George 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 MP, in the Coalition Government's first tranche of appointments. In July 2011 the Prime Minister, David Cameron and the Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, appointed Freeman as Government Life Science Advisor. In 2014, he was appointed Minister for Life Sciences at the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
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