David Willetts

David Lindsay Willetts, Baron Willetts (born 9 March 1956) is a British Conservative politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for Universities and Science from 2010 until July 2014 and became a member of the House of Lords in 2015. He was appointed chair of the UK Space Agency's board in April 2022 and chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office in April 2025. He is president of the Resolution Foundation. Born in Birmingham, Willetts studied philosophy, politics and economics at Christ Church, Oxford. After joining the Treasury as an official in 1978 and serving as Nigel Lawson's private secretary, Willetts moved to Margaret Thatcher's Policy Unit. At age 31, Willetts became head of the Centre for Policy Studies, before entering the House of Commons for Havant at the 1992 general election. He was quickly appointed to a number of positions before being appointed Paymaster General in 1996. During this period, Willetts gained the nickname "Two Brains". However, he was later forced to resign later that year after it was found that he had "dissembled" in his evidence to the Standards and Privileges Committee over whether pressure was put onto an earlier investigation into Conservative MP Neil Hamilton. Willetts returned to the Conservative frontbench after the party's defeat in the 1997 general election, serving as Shadow Education Secretary before becoming Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. Following the 2005 election, he served as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and then backed David Davis in the 2005 Conservative leadership election. Despite this, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills in David Cameron's shadow cabinet, later becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Following...