Life Sciences Minister who created the role and the Sector Deal, Future of Transport Minister who launched the e-scooter trials, Science Minister twice, and the cabinet member who resigned in November 2023 saying he could not afford to live on a ministerial salary while paying his mortgage. The July 2024 majority was 3,054 over Labour in Mid Norfolk with Reform third on 20.5%, a 19,540 vote drop from 2019.

Born 1967; Geography at Girton Cambridge. Fifteen years in biomedical venture capital at Merlin Biosciences, CEO of Amedis Pharma, founder of four biomedical start ups. Stood and lost in Stevenage in 2005. Elected in 2010 for Mid Norfolk on a 13,261 majority.

PPS to Greg Barker as Minister for Climate Change from late 2010, then Government Life Science Advisor at Number 10 from July 2011. Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Life Sciences at the joint Department of Health and BIS brief he had effectively designed, from July 2014 to July 2016; the Life Sciences Sector Deal, the launch of Genomics England and the 100,000 Genomes Project came on his watch and earned him the nickname "High Tech Hezza". Chair of the Prime Minister''s Policy Board under Theresa May in 2017, resigned in November of that year. Minister of State for the Future of Transport at the DfT from 26 July 2019 to 13 February 2020, where he launched the regulatory review that became the national e-scooter trial framework and the early drone strategy. Parliamentary Under-Secretary then Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation at BEIS and DSIT under Johnson then Sunak, from September 2021 to 13 November 2023.

The 13 November 2023 resignation said his time had come "to focus on my health, family well-being and life beyond the front bench". The Spectator piece of 29 January 2024 gave the harder version: his mortgage was rising that month "from £800 per month to £2,000, which I simply couldn''t afford to pay on a Ministerial salary" and he warned that politics risked becoming something "only hedge fund donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do". He described himself afterwards as "exhausted, bust and depressed". On £118,300 in total pay during a cost of living crisis, the framing took: minister cannot afford mortgage, voters can.

The post-ministerial second job is the second strand. He took an adviser role with the satellite emissions monitoring firm GHGSat (UK) Ltd from 24 April 2024 paying £5,000 a month for 8 hours and a second £2,000 a month for 2 hours from July 2024. The Sunday Times revealed in June 2025 that he had tabled written parliamentary questions aligned with GHGSat''s commercial interests and that leaked emails showed him consulting the company executive on what to ask about. He referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who found no case to answer. February 2021 had already brought an ACOBA apology for taking paid work from the Covid PPE firm Aerosol Shield.

Voted Remain in 2016. Voted Aye on the Rwanda Bill at third reading on 17 January 2024. Voted Aye on the Leadbeater assisted dying bill at second reading on 29 November 2024 and No at third reading on 20 June 2025, switching after the High Court judge sign-off requirement was dropped in committee, citing risk of a "Dignitas industry". Did not stand in 2024; endorsed Mel Stride first, then James Cleverly. Backbencher under Badenoch. An October 2025 AI deepfake video falsely showed him announcing defection to Reform; he denounced it.