UK science minister steps down
pharmafile | July 15, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Cameron, UK, Willetts, cabinet, parliament, science minister
The science and universities minister David Willetts has resigned as British prime minister David Cameron carries out a major cabinet reshuffle.
The news follows several months of speculation that Willetts [pictured] was at risk of losing the universities brief, and comes amid part of a wider change in government with a number of long-serving ministers also facing the chop.
Those changes include former health secretary turned South Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley, who led the controversial NHS reform but whose future now remains in doubt after losing his job as leader of the commons – to the now ex-foreign secretary William Hague.
The MP for Havant in southern England, who has overseen four years of major reform in higher education as well as working closely with pharma on the life sciences side, also intends to leave Parliament next year.
Willetts, who is known affectionately in the cabinet as ‘two brains’ given his intelligence, has formed a strong relationship with the UK pharma industry.
The minister was charged with having ‘strategic relationship management responsibility’ for several pharma companies, according to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in a statement.
One of these firms includes the UK-based AstraZeneca, and in January last year Willetts took the highly unusual step of urging the NHS “to increase its use of an AstraZeneca heart medicine [Brilinta (ticagrelor)], amid mounting political concern about the drugs company’s commitment to British jobs”.
According to the Manchester Evening News the minister urged health officials to ‘accelerate the uptake of Brilinta’, a blood thinner used to treat patients suffering from severe angina or a heart attack, which has sold poorly despite seeing a green light from NICE 2011.
This was a strong lobbying stance for any member of government to take, let alone a cabinet minister, and caused several raised eyebrows from both NHS leaders and political commentators.
BIS said in a statement at the time that: “He [Willetts] regularly meets with companies to discuss issues of importance to them, and has a strong interest in making sure that the environment for the life-sciences industry is conducive to innovation and growth.”
Since his ‘resignation’ many in the industry, including the BioIndustry Association lobby group, the British Science Association and the Science Media Centre, to name but a few, have lauded his work and lamented his depature.
Since he is leaving Parliamentary life altogether next year, it remains to be seen whether he will take up a corporate role in the future.
Update
Today it was announced that Greg Clark, a conservative minister responsible for cities policy and constitutional reform, has been tasked with taking over Willetts’ portfolio.
Clark holds an economics degree from Cambridge university and a PhD from the London School of Economics, and has worked for a business strategy firm before entering politics.
He was appointed minister for cities in July 2011 and will keep this portfolio in addition to the science policy brief.
George Freeman, a Conservative MP, has also been appointed as minister for life sciences – a joint appointment across the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health. He was previously an advisor to Willetts on life sciences.
Critics have pointed out, however, that Clark backed a 2007 Parliamentary motion calling on the government to support homeopathic hospitals; they suggest that this pro-homeopathy stance could make Clark a poor fit for the science ministry.
Ben Adams
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