Member of Parliament
Stephen Ladyman took which position from May 1997 to May 2001?
Stephen Ladyman Stephen John Ladyman ( born 6 November 1952 ) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament ( MP ) for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010 . Early life . He attended the Birkenhead Institute Grammar School for Boys ( became the comprehensive Birkenhead Institute High School then closed in August 1993 ) on Tollemache Road in Claughton , before studying at Liverpool Polytechnic where he received a BSc in Applied Biology . He did work placements at Rothamsted Experimental Station in Harpenden and at Ministry of Agriculture , Fisheries and Food in Liverpool , before studying for a PhD awarded by the University of Strathclyde for researching natural isotopic abundances of elements to enable prediction of soil development when at the Natural Environment Research Councils radiocarbon laboratory , in the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre , East Kilbride . He worked as a research scientist for the Medical Research Council ( MRC ) Radiobiology Unit at Harwell in Oxfordshire from 1979–85 , where he researched the removal of radionuclides from lung tissue , before becoming Head of Computing for the Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in Charing Cross ( now owned by Imperial College ) from 1985–90 , building computer systems for the Kennedy Institute ( also part of Hammersmith Hospital ) , the Arthritis and Rheumatism Research Council and Charing Cross Sunley Research Centre . From 1990–1 , he was an IT consultant at Pfizer Central Research in Sandwich , south Thanet , where Viagra was discovered , advising research scientists on the design of computer systems , before working as Head of Computer User Support until 1997 . Political career . He contested the Wantage constituency in June 1987 , when 34 . From 1995–9 , Ladyman was a Thanet councillor and was appointed as Chairman of Finance of Thanet District Council . He was elected to Parliament in the 1997 United Kingdom general election , defeating Jonathan Aitken . He was a junior minister at the Department for Health from June 2003 until May 2005 , when he was appointed Minister of State for Transport having narrowly held his seat in the 2005 General Election with a majority of 664 votes . In the General election of 6 May 2010 , Ladyman once again stood as the Labour Party candidate for Thanet South ; however , he was defeated by Conservative candidate Laura Sandys who took the seat with a majority of over 7,600 . He was appointed chairman of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in January 2013 . Top Gear . While Minister for Transport , Ladyman appeared on Top Gear in 2005 to discuss speed cameras with Jeremy Clarkson during the shows Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment . He revealed himself to be a fan of cars , and admitted to having received several speeding fines and a total of nine penalty points . The Minister displayed a passion for fast cars including having owned an Alfa Romeo and posting a lap time in the Reasonably Priced Car towards the top of the leaderboard . He set a time of 1:48.8 , faster than Clarksons own time of 1:50 . After presenter Richard Hammond was seriously injured in a high-speed crash in 2006 , Ladyman voiced his support for the programme . He denied that Top Gear encouraged dangerous driving , instead that they celebrate great engineering and , yes , they celebrate fast cars .. . but , equally , theyve had me on the programme giving out road safety messages . People dont go onto the road and break the speed limit because they watch Top Gear . Personal life . He married Janet Pike ( née Baker ) in May 1995 on the Isle of Thanet . He has one daughter , one stepdaughter and two stepsons . External links . - Dr Stephen Ladyman MP official site - Department for Transport – Dr Stephen Ladyman MP - Voting record at the Public Whip - Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle : Stephen Ladyman MP - TheyWorkForYou.com – Stephen Ladyman MP - BBC Politics profile - Interviewed on The Westminster Hour about saving the planet - 2005 campaign