Profile of Andrew Lansley, the new health secretary

The son of a pathologist who worked for the NHS since its inception and a former civil servant, Andrew Lansley is often credited with bringing his party round to supporting the health service.

After becoming an active Conservative party member in the 1980s he was touted as being one of the minds behind the Conservative’s victory in the 1992 general election. He suffered a minor stroke in the same year.

Lansley  became shadow health secretary in 2003 under Michael Howard. He has also been a vice-president of the Local Government Association since 1996.

In 2008 Lansley caused controversy for his comments about obesity saying there was no excuse for people being overweight.

Recently he was critical of Labour’s Personal Care at Home Bill for being under-costed, but has faced similar accusations over his own party’s idea to fund residential care through a voluntary £8,000 insurance premium.

Lansley plans to rebrand the Department of Health as the Department of Public Health and put a greater focus on preventive measures. He has said this would involve strategies which cut across departments.

He has also been steadfast in his support of attendance allowance and solidly against Labour’s proposal to fund care through what the Tories dubbed a “death tax” – a compulsory care levy.

Cameron long promised to make Lansley the health secretary in a Conservative government.

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