Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson
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Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born in 1960) is a British businessman, racing driver and former politician.
After attending St Dunstan's College, Paul Drayson graduated from Aston University in Production Engineering, followed in 1985 by a PhD in robotics. From 1986 to 1991 he was Managing Director of the Lambourn Food Company.
In 1993 he co-founded PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc in Oxford which specialised in the production of vaccines, and was Chief Executive until 2003 when PowderJect was acquired by Chiron Corp.
Drayson has been involved in public controversy on two occasions:
- In 2002 PowderJect was awarded a £32 million government smallpox vaccine contract without competition shortly after Paul Drayson donated £50,000 to the Labour Party. Following a Parliamentary enquiry no improper activity was identified.
- Following his elevation to the House of Lords, made a working peer entitled Baron Drayson, of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in May 2004, he gave the Labour Party another £500,000, raising allegations that his peerage had been "bought".
In May 2005 Lord Drayson replaced Lord Bach as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Procurement and as Government Spokesman for Defence to the House of Lords. Lord Drayson's responsibility for defence procurement in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is one of the most high profile jobs in the MoD. His remit includes oversight of the Defence Procurement Agency and Defence Logistics Organisation. In December 2005 Lord Drayson published a report entitled The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). On 6 March 2007 Lord Drayson was promoted to Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support. He oversaw the new Defence Equipment and Support Organisation.[1] On 29 June 2007 he also became a Minister of State in the newly created Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, combining this with his role in the Ministry of Defence. He stood down from ministerial responsibilities on 7 November 2007. His official reason for steeping down was his wish to participate in the Le Mans race, but it has been reported that the actual reasons were being left out of the loop when Prime Minister Brown decided to disband the Defence Export Services Organisation and equipment budget deficits which would make the followup to the DIS largely irrelevant.[2] His job as defence procurement minister was transferred to Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton.[3]
Between 2001 and 2002 he was the Chairman of the BioIndustry Association, and has been Chairman of the Oxford Children's Hospital Campaign since 2002. Since 2003, he has been the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Said Business School, Oxford University.
[edit] Personal life
Drayson and his wife have five children, and live between homes in London and Nether Lypiatt Manor near Stroud in Gloucestershire, purchased for £5.75million in 2006 from Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. [4]
Self described as a "car nut and I'm a Government minister",[5] he drives an Aston Martin Vanquish, his wife has an Aston Martin DB9, and his collection includes a Lotus Elan. He also races a bio-ethanol powered Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3-spec race car for Barwell Motorsport in the British GT Championship. He stood down as a Government minister on 7 November 2007 to compete in the American Le Mans Series.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Lord Drayson appointed minister
- ^ UK DIS falls into abeyance as Drayson decides to quit, Jane's Defence Weekly, 14 November 2007, p. 5
- ^ BBC NEWS | Politics | Minister quits to race in Le Mans
- ^ Prufrock column, The Sunday Times, 23 July 2006.
- ^ On the move: Lord Drayson Sunday Times - 20 October, 2007
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Minister quits to race in Le Mans
