Norman John Baker (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election until his defeat in 2015.
[7] Baker contested Lewes at the 1992 general election, but the sitting Conservative Party MP Tim Rathbone retained the seat.
After compiling figures in 2002, which revealed that the government's fleet of ministerial cars had grown to its largest ever size,[12] he began in January 2005 to campaign to force disclosure of the details of MPs' expenses under the Freedom of Information Act, finally succeeding in February 2007.
[20] In the 2001–05 Parliament, Baker was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and was appointed as Liberal Democrat Environment spokesman in 2002, a post he held until his resignation in 2006 following the election of Sir Menzies Campbell as party leader.
[22][23] The motion called for a Bill to be "brought forward in this Parliament so that annual cuts in carbon dioxide emissions of 3 per cent can be delivered in a framework that includes regular reporting and new scrutiny and corrective processes" and attracted 412 signatures.
"[24] He returned to the front bench in July 2007, when he was appointed as Liberal Democrat spokesman on the Cabinet Office and the Duchy of Lancaster.
[27][28] Baker announced on 19 May 2006 that he had decided to step down from the Liberal Democrats' front bench to pursue a quest to establish the truth behind the death in 2003 of David Kelly,[29] an expert in biological warfare employed by the Ministry of Defence and a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq.
Kelly's discussion with BBC Today programme journalist Andrew Gilligan about the British government's dossier on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq inadvertently caused a major political scandal.
In December 2007, Baker was criticised, but not fined by the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges for a newsletter which contained an "advertising feature" about a Liberal Democrat MEP.
[35] The Committee's report concluded: "We agree with the Commissioner that this element of Mr Donovan's complaint should be upheld, and we reiterate that the inclusion of material of a party political nature is not permissible in publications funded from parliamentary allowances.
In school, the younger grades are taught in Tibetan for new ideas, but the rest is in Mandarin Chinese including for concepts in sciences and maths.
[38] In March 2010, the BBC ran an investigation detailing 37 occasions that Baker failed to declare a financial interest in Tibet during parliamentary debates and questions, despite receiving hospitality from the Tibetan government-in-exile.
[42] The Liberal Democrats entered a coalition agreement with the Conservative Party on 11 May 2010, and Baker was appointed Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Transport.
[44][45] In the October 2013 reshuffle, Baker was appointed to the Home Office as Minister of State, overseeing issues relating to national security, replacing fellow Liberal Democrat Jeremy Browne.
[1] In this role he repeatedly suggested changes to drug policy, saying that patients should have access to cannabis for cancer pain relief and multiple sclerosis[46] and that all options regarding legal highs were under consideration.
[59] In 2015, Baker, a keen music enthusiast, re-formed his old band The Reform Club, which announced that it would be releasing an album of 15 original songs on 25 March.
[62] As Norman Baker and Friends, he released a four-track EP, Animal Countdown, in March 2015, which highlights the plight of endangered species.
[68] On 10 September 2022, Baker attended the Accession Council for the Proclamation of King Charles III at St James's Palace, London.